Whiskey in the Jar
by TJMac86
Summary: On a windy, desolate plain, a small figure walks with purpose toward the only sign of civilised life for what seemed like lightyears... Her dry lips formed a tight, determined line while her ice blue eyes constantly scanned her surroundings. She was walking into a trap, but she already knew that...
1. Prologue

_This is my first attempt at writing anything more eloquent than a receipt since high school (which was many moons ago) so please be gentle. Also, I'm not American, so spelling (when I've actually spelt shit right) is English English, not American English._ _This is just a character that has been wreaking havoc in my brain for years, so I'm setting her loose on the world. No backsies._ :-P

 _I don't own Divergent... or Four... or Eric... :-(_

Prologue

On a windy, desolate plain, a small figure walks with purpose toward the only sign of civilised life for what seemed like lightyears. The dilapidated city had dominated the skyline for miles already. She was close enough now to see the imposing, and probably completely useless, fence surrounding what used to be a shining beacon of civilisation. She sighs quietly, her dirty white hair blowing in all directions, looking just like the snow flurries shifting about her tired feet. Her dry lips formed a tight, determined line while her ice blue eyes constantly scanned her surroundings. She was walking into a trap, but she already knew that.

It took much longer than she thought it would for the tranq dart to finally find her right shoulder, she was a scant mile from the gate when it hit. The people in black uniforms had been keeping pace with her for a good half hour. They had been trying to keep quiet and hidden, poor lambs, they'd had no idea that she'd spotted them well before they laid eyes on her, and she'd heard them well before that. She turned quickly toward the shooter and dropped to her knees before sliding to the ground. Once down, she concentrated on slowing her breathing and heart rate to the appropriate levels. She was a small woman, and they'd just hit her with enough tranq to down a 6ft6, irate irishman on St Paddy's, she should probably at least attempt to look normal for the moment. Plenty of time later to freak out the locals if this city turned out to be what she dreaded it was. She allowed her whole body to relax before they reached her. She wondered if it would be too much to roll her eyes back into her skull... probably. Don't want them to start trying to resuscitate her, bad enough that she was going to have to lay completely limp while some stranger carried her into an unknown situation, inside an unfamiliar city; she didn't need a stranger getting so close that she couldn't help smacking the shite out of them.

By the time the careful footsteps reached her, she was barely breathing, her heart rate was almost comatose slow, and her whole body had relaxed to the consistency of jelly. The toe in her ribs was unpleasant, but bearable. The gentle hand at her throat, checking for a pulse, was harder to deal with. This was going to be far from fun.


	2. One

_Unbetta'd... here goes..._ One

Eric detested having to go to the control room. Three years since initiation ended, and he still hated that smarmy son of a bitch with the fire of a thousand suns. The only silver lining he'd found in the situation was that, no matter how much Eric couldn't stand the man, Four loathed Eric more. He used this to his advantage every opportunity he was presented with. Mental athletics was not Four's forté, another thing that Eric despised him for, but he used that to his advantage as well. Eric took a breath at the door, before striding into the control room like he owned it.

"Listen here Dumbass, you'd better have a good excuse for putting out a level five or you're..." Eric's threat died on his lips as he looked at the only feed showing on the main monitor. It was a live feed from seven miles outside the fence. Walking through the barren wastelands, getting closer and closer to the camera, was the last thing anyone expected to see. A girl. A tiny, slip of a thing. Wearing old style army camouflage gear, carting a huge pack and webbing, and sporting a ridiculous length of silver hair that blew about her head, obscuring her face. For the first time in his life, Eric was speechless. His mouth hung open, gaping at the monitor. He took a couple of deep breaths, working his jaw, trying to get his mouth to work, but no sound left him. While his mouth seemed to be malfunctioning, his brain was working overtime. No one had seen anybody from outside the city in 300 years, it had been presumed that the war had killed everyone else. Yet here was a girl, calmly and determinedly, walking toward the city. Eric had been out beyond the fence and seen the wastelands, there was nothingness, as far as the eye could see. He tried to calculate how long she must've been walking, days, at least. She should've been flagging by now, dragging her feet, puffing, something... but she wasn't. She looked sure-footed and her breathing looked paced. Her head was high, her shoulders straight, she looked like she was just getting started. Something was definitely off about her, besides the fact that she shouldn't even be there in the first place.

"Fuck me... the fuck is this?" Eric finally finds some words, even if they are only whispered expletives. He glances at Four, whose hand is still resting above the panic button while he stares, slack-jawed at the screen. The girl is close to the camera now. She stops just before it and pulls her hair out of her face. She's stunning, if a little undernourished. Her eyes are like two chips of ice in her tanned, windblown face as she stares into the camera with a small smile. She gives a nervous little wave, before she continues on past the camera with the same determined stride as before her little greeting.

Everyone in the room lets out a whoosh of breath at the same time as the girl passes out of view. They then collectively turn and look at their great and fearless leader, who swallows with an audible gulp, as he desperately tries to pull his thoughts together into some form of coherent action plan.

"Is there a patrol in the area?" He finally snaps

"418 is due to leave the gate in ten minutes, want me to tell them to pick her up?" Zeke pipes up cheerily

"Christ no! Tell them not to leave, tell them to wait for reinforcements"

Four is already on the radio, hissing orders to wait and threatening violence if anyone leaves the gate before backup gets there. Eric raises an eyebrow in his direction, who knew the stiff had a brain?

"Sir" Zeke says quietly "She's just a little girl"

"And how many little girls do you know can carry full pack, and webbing, at four miles an hour, for God knows how long, and still look that fresh Zeke?" Eric spits out as comprehension dawns on Zeke's face. "She's either a freak, or, not alone. Either way, we need to be damn carefull about how we bring her in." Eric straightens and takes a breath, his brain leaping ahead, running every scenario he can think of at lightning speed. "I want a city patrol ready at the station, whoever's about to go out. The patrol that's out now is going to have to pull a double. I want the equipment for the extra unit, plus two, at the gate and ready by the time we get there. I want four tranq rifles on top of the regular gear, and a Dauntless med team standing by at the gate. I also want more eyes on screens, I want every inch of the fence and this compound monitored for any unusual activity. The girl could be a decoy. And I need it all done yesterday"

The room scatters, everyone running to different radios and monitors, dividing jobs between themselves with a well practiced fluidity that spoke of many drills and years of working together.

"Stiff! With me!" Eric barks as he turns on his heel and double times it out of the room.

oOoOo

Eric watched as the girl turned toward him and fell to her knees, his heart in his throat. He held his breath as she collapsed under the weight of her gear, and waited for a good minute before he signaled to move in slowly. He was the first to reach her prone body, giving her a decent couple of taps in the ribs with his boot to make sure she was out. He exhaled heavily when she didn't flinch. Four shoots him a dirty look as he kneels next to her a moment later, two fingers on the pulse point in her neck.

"What?" Eric grumbles "You can see it too Number Boy, chick's dangerous"

"Maybe, maybe not. But she's unconscious and her pulse is barely there, she's not real dangerous right at the minute, get your boot out of her ribs"

"I didn't bring you out here to undermine my authority, stiff. I brought you out here as cannon fodder." Four looks like he's about to open his not-so-smart mouth again, so Eric elaborates, "Just in case the little girl went mental and started tearing fuckers heads off. I figured I'd throw you at her first, give the rest of us time to get away" Four misses the joke as he steps back so quickly he almost trips.

"Fuckin' hell! She smiled man, she fuckin' smiled!"

"Shit, Stiff, chill out! It was probably just a muscle twitch. Might have had something to do with my boot in her ribs."

"Bullshit! She smiled! She's playing possum!" Four moves closer and gives her a few boots to the ribs, harder than Eric had.

"Knock it off! She's in bad enough shape as it is without you knocking her about 'cause you're a twitchy pansycake" Eric goads

"I'm not twitchy! She fucking moved man!"

Eric rolls his eyes "Move, useless" he growls as he kneels next to the small figure that seems to be at least 50% hair. He roles her out of her pack, undoes the clips on her webbing, and rolls her out of that as well. He examines her closely now that he's got her gear off her. She's small, she might be 5 ft, maybe 5ft 2in if she's lucky, but she's older than he'd first thought. Late teens or early twenties by his best guess, she looks fully developed. He brushes her hair off her face so he can have a proper look. She's even prettier in real life than on the screen. Her long, blonde eyelashes look soft, lying against her windburnt cheeks. Her lips are dry and chapped, but are a natural dusky rose, with a perfect cupid's bow. Her cheekbones are high and sharp, and he wonders how much a few good meals would plump out her face, take the harsh edges from her body and the hollowness from her cheeks.

"Jesus Eric, one minute you want to kill her, the next you want to kiss her. What's the deal?" To Four's great suprise, a cheeky half grin appears on Eric's face.

"Just like every other woman I've ever met then" Eric's waiting for it this time, the smile. He doesn't jump back like Four does when it happens, just squeezes the girls shoulder a little as it sits under his hand and sighs. Fucking crazy bitch is awake, and she's gonna make him carry her the mile to the gate anyway. "Prettier than any other woman I've met though. They don't make 'em like this in the city" Eric watches the blush creep up her neck and into her cheeks at his words and has to suppress his smile. Apparently he doesn't do it well.

"Man, stop it, it's creepy seeing you smile. If she opens her eyes to that, she'll bolt. We'll never see her again"

"How would you know, fuckstick? She might want to stick around, compelled to do so by my sparkling personality and rugged charm"

"Girls like her don't go for assholes like you."

"Fuck off Stiff, I can be a nice guy"

Eric had never heard Four laugh before, The Stiff being the serious, well, stiff that he was. At this point he was hoping he never heard him laugh again. It just went on, and on, and on, and on.

"Shut your trap and grab her gear" Eric snapped at the giggling fool "And get a move on, we're losing daylight here" He leant in close to the mess of silver hair and wispered "And you can shut up too, smart ass. I saw you lift that eyebrow" And with that, he picked her up and hoisted her over his shoulder, heading home to the constant braying and snorting of the idiot walking next to him.


	3. Two

_Thankyou so much for your lovely comments, I wasn't expecting anything so soon. I'm really glad you guys are so curious about the origins of my OC, but she's a stubborn one. We'll have to see if Eric can pull some information out of her ;-)_ _Here's a short chapter from Four's POV. I'm planning on alternating between Four and Eric for awhile at least, you'll see why shortly :-)_ _Again, this is unbetta'd._

Two

The way Eric is looking at The Girl is starting to freak Four out properly now. Out in the wastelands, when it was just an odd smile, he could cope. Hell, he could even see the funny side. But now she's covered in wires and sensors. She looks so tiny in the Dauntless hospital bed, and Eric won't take his eyes off her. His look shifts between murderous and infatuated, with no trigger whatsoever that Four can work out. He hasn't spoken a word for the last hour or so. Not since the medical staff gave The Girl a reasonably clean bill of health. Eric had nodded his thanks toward the staff and turned his back in dismissal.

"C'mon Eric, they said she'll be out for the rest of the night. Someone will come and get you when she's with it, you can interrogate her then. Max wanted that report done ASAP" Four says in an attempt to break the young leader's intense stare. Even unconscious, that stare had to be burning a hole into the poor girls brain.

"Don't worry about my paperwork, brainless! You have to get yours done before I can finish mine anyway" Eric retorts, his eyes not moving from the helpless figure on the bed.

"Eric, leave it. She's not moving. She's not moved since she got here. She's not gonna move until that tranq wears off. And looking at the size of her, that might take days"

"For fuck's sake Stiff! Who's leader here? Go! Leave! Get your paperwork done and have it on my desk within the hour! That's an order!" Eric's cold eyes burn through Four as he snarls at him, his eyes having finally left the small bundle on the bed.

Four's ears burn as he does an abrupt about face and scampers from the hospital room.

oOoOo

It takes about fifteen minutes of dull as hell paperwork for Four to calm down and try to assess the situation in an unbiased manner. It's getting harder every day to keep Eric convinced that he's all brawn and no brain, but it's worth it for the freedom it affords him. Today, however, had been the hardest day yet. He knows that Eric clued on at least once as they interacted with The Girl. And before that, he'd let his instincts take over in the control room. That wasn't something he usually did in Eric's presence. The best course of action that Four could see in this situation was to avoid Eric like the plague. That was a plan. It was a good plan. And it was also made so much more difficult by the arrival of The Girl. The way Eric had stared at her... no... into her, had made his skin crawl in the worst possible way. It was beyond creepy, moving straight into the territory of the terrifying.

"Not my circus, not my monkeys" Four breaths to himself. However, it does nothing to convince him that this is not his problem. 'The Girl', as he'd been calling her in his head, radiated importance. She was so small, so frail and soft looking in the large hospital bed. And Eric... Ruthless Eric... Violent Eric... Hard Eric... he had only taken his eyes off her the once. Eric's ice cold eyes almost matched the ice blue eyes Four had seen on the screen in the control room. They where almost the exact same shade. But while Eric's eyes where cold, hard and calculating, The Girl's where filled with fire and mischief.

It was the memory of her eyes and that nervous little wave that had made Four's mind up about her. Yes, she could be dangerous, but he doubted she would be unless provoked. That's why he had backed off about insisting she was awake. Eric had known damn well she was awake, he had seen the cheeky little smile just as well as Four had. But he had chosen to ignore it in front of the other men, and Four could not work out a motive for the life of him.

And now he had a choice to make. Continue to watch out for The Girl, and attempt to be a buffer between Eric's ice blue eyes and hers. Or, he could stay well away from the pair of them. He knew which option was the safer of the two.

"Not my circus, not my monkeys. Not my circus, not my monkeys. Not my circus, not my monkeys..."


	4. Three

_Unbetta'd as usual_

Three

Ten minutes after Number Boy walks out of the room, Eric caves in to the urge that had been plaguing him since the brat on the bed had raised an eyebrow at him. He drags a chair up to the side of her hospital bed, hides her small hand in his one large one, and buries his head in the tangled mess of silver beside her head. To anyone walking past, he would look like a worried lover, desperate to be close to his better half. The casual observer would not hear the harshly wispered threats he hissed into her ear.

"I don't know where you came from kid, but you're in Dauntless now. This is not a love and cuddles institution. It's rough and dangerous. And the longer you play possum, the worse it'll be for you. We have a code here. We believe in facing our fear no matter what the cost to our comfort, our happiness, or even to our sanity. We believe that pain and death are better than cowardice and inaction because we believe in action. We do not believe in living comfortable lives. ~We do not believe that silence is useful.~ We do not believe in good manners. We do not believe in empty heads, empty mouths, or empty hands. We do not believe that any other virtue is more important than bravery."

By the time Eric had finished his abridged version of the Dauntless mission statement, he was squeezing her hand so hard that he thought he might break it. She hadn't so much as flinched.

"Now, I've got no doubt in my mind that you could fit in here. You're a metric fuck tonne tougher than you look, and I doubt you'd fit into any of the other factions. But the longer we play this game, the harder you're going to find it. I'm a Dauntless Leader, I can make or break you. No one does anything here without my say so."

While he was hissing, Eric had unconsciously moved his other arm around to the other side of her head, where his hand was now tangled into the fine hair at the nape of her neck. He squeezed as he snarled out his frustration in her ear, his frustration finding another level when the baffling woman in his arms refused to move an inch.

"Listen here you little freak, I know you can fucking hear me and I know you understand the fucking language. You're gonna knock this bullshit off before I decide you're a threat to the city and put a bullet in your fucking brain. You got that? Answer me before I have to mess up that pretty head of yours"

A derisive snort erupts from the freak in question, and Eric's head snaps up so fast it leaves him dizzy. His eyes are wide with suprise as they meet hers. Her half smile is almost lazy, promising mischief and mayhem. She arches an eyebrow at him as he struggles to gain control of his faculties, and her lazy half smile becomes a full on cheeky grin.

"She's awake, it's a miracle." Eric deadpans, reverting to sarcasm in times of crisis being something he's done from a young age. "And what have you got to say for yourself?"

The cheeky grin on her face fades slowly as Eric holds his breath for the umpteenth time that day. She gives a small, sad, little shake of her head. Eric realises that he's still got a tight grip on her hair. He releases it quickly and snorts

"Seriously, you've nothing to say?"

Another small shake of her head is her only response.

"For fuck's sake kid! You're the first person we've seen from outside the fence in three hundred years, and you've got absolutely nothing to say? I want to know what the hell is out there! Where you came from! Where in Christ's name you think you're going! How many others there are out there..." He trailed off as he took in the look on her face. Her features where contorting before him, trying to stem the fountain of tears that Eric suspected where crowding behind her reddening eyes.

"Hey, hey. It's ok, breath. You're safe here, it's ok, it's fine. Breath, kid, breath! You good? Of course you are, you're fine, see, you're fine." Eric found himself in a position he'd never been in before, a source of comfort. It was not something that came naturally. He tightened his grip on her hair again, lowering his head until his forehead leant against hers. He watched her internal struggle for a moment or two while she regained control of her emotions. It took much less time than he expected for her face to relax and her breathing to return to normal.

"See, you're completely fine" he quietly intoned. He sighed then, more at himself than her. He buried his head back into her hair and brought his mouth back against her ear. "I'm sorry kid, I won't push, I promise." He breathed "But you're gonna have to give me something to work with here. Jeannine is probably already having kittens because I insisted on bringing you here instead of taking you to the Erudite facility. Trust me, the last thing anyone needs is Jeannine sticking her nose in. So you've gotta give me something. Talk to me, pretty lady"

A gentle hand on his cheek made Eric raise his eyes to hers. She mimed writing with the hand that wasn't still trapped within Eric's.

"You're mute" he whispers softly. Her answering soft, sad smile just about breaks what's left of the arrogant leader's cold heart. He squeezes her hand gently, releasing her to scrabble around in his jacket for a pen and paper. She takes it from him when he finds it, supporting herself on an elbow as she quickly scratches out a note. She then pushes the worn notepad toward him as she sinks down on the bed and shuts her eyes. To the rest of the world she may look defeated, but not to Eric. He saw a warrior, resting while she could, calmly anticipating the battle to come. He looked down at her scribbled note.

"My name is Kella Esarosa. I was a soldier once, in a great war. I died, and then I woke up alone."

oOoOo

Eric was alone with his thoughts. Kella was sleeping. Actually sleeping this time, not just pretending to be comatose. Not long after he had read the note, all hell had broken loose. Doctors and nurses had come running in from all directions. They had swarmed about her bed, attempted to push Eric out of the room, and had just generally made nuisances of themselves. He had watched for a short while as the little brat played them. She'd been the perfect picture of helplessness as she mucked about with her heart rate, it was a stellar performance. His roar of "ENOUGH!" had put a stop to that though. The little freak had opened her eyes and rolled them, before she'd sat up, grinning like a maniac at the looks on the doctor's faces.

He sighed, coming back to the present. His fingers tightened around hers as he watched her snuffle a little in her sleep, a small line of drool pooling under her cheek. What the fuck was wrong with him? He should be treating her like an initiate already, even with another nine months to go before the next crop of transfers showed up. He definitely shouldn't be wrapped around her while she sleeps. It's unprofessional, and not to mention, highly irregular.

He has no doubt in his mind of where she'll end up. She's a soldier, only one place for her. He knew she was a soldier when he saw her on the screen in the control room. It wasn't the way she was dressed, or the gear she carried. It was the walk. The calm, determined, ground eating walk of a seasoned warrior. She walked with purpose, even if she didn't actually know where she was going. She would do well in Dauntless, but not if he didn't detach himself from her. He just didn't seem to be able to help himself. As soon as he'd touched her, he'd had the seemingly irresistible urge to hang onto her. He didn't comprehend it in the slightest.

But far worse than his sudden obsession with touching the weirdo from outside the fence, was his urge to be... nice. Pleasant... supportive even. He'd suffered these urges occasionally in the past, they'd always been pretty easy to ignore. This time, however, there just seemed to be no escaping the gut crushing sensation he'd felt as he watched the foreign beauty's face squash up in grief. It was unbearable. He was definitely going to have to do something about this situation.


	5. Four

_I don't own Divergent, Four, or Eric. And I may have borrowed most of Harmony from Joss Wheddon as well :-/_ _Unbetta'd_

Four

Four's mantra still played over and over in his head as he walked to Eric's office with his completed paperwork. He was half an hour late and he was hoping against hope that the asshole wasn't in. As he rounded the corner and saw the empty desk he sent up a hurried prayer of thanks to the universe, someone was watching out for him for once. He hurried across the room and just as he was laying the papers on the desk, a nasal voice from the next room pierced the quiet.

"Four, is that you?"

"Shit shit shit" Four lamented under his breath "Yes Harmony" He answered louder, hanging his head.

"Oh good" The irritating voice preceded it's irritating owner into the main office "I've got a message for you from Eric. You need to get his paperwork from here and take yours and his to the med bay. He's still there with that weird girl you guys picked up. Hey, speaking of, did she really come from outside the fence? Cause I've heard rumours. Addy said that she's covered in fur like a werewolf, and her teeth are all sharp and pointy like, and she had claws and..." she stops mid sentence when Four holds his hand up in front of her face.

"Stop, just stop. Where the fuck did you hear that heap of bullshit?"

"Well. Hadley, you know, Hadley from the hairdressers? She's dating Simpson from the kitchen, and he was talking to Rupert from City Patrol, who was talking to his brother Micah from out at the fence. And Micah said that he was there when you guys brought her in."

"And what the fuck has that got to do with Addy?" Four knew it was a mistake to ask as soon as the words left his mouth.

"Well duh! Addy is Sara's best friend!" She continued when she saw Four's confused look "Sara who transfered from Candor the same year Hadley came over from Amity? Come on Four! You where their instructor!"

"Oh, right, Sara" Four still didn't get it, who the fuck was Addy? But he knew he wasn't getting out of here unless he feigned comprehension "Well, she doesn't have fur, or fangs, or claws. She's just got really long hair for such a little woman. Can I grab that paperwork now?"

"Oh, sure, here you go. Tell Eric that Max has already asked for it twice, so he might want to get a move on with it. And Max is still pissed that Eric hasn't been up to see him and the rest of the leaders yet. It's only a matter of time before they come hunting for his head. I can only stall for so long"

And in that moment Four remembered why Eric put up with Harmony's constant nasal rambling. She was the only person in the faction that could deal with everyone. If Eric wanted her to stall all the leaders of all the factions for an hour while he finished up last weeks reports, she did it. If he didn't want to be disturbed in his office for six hours or more, not a living soul got past Harmony. And she knew all the gossip about everyone. Most of it wasn't true of course, but she was still handy as a pocket knife to have around.

"Thanks, Harmony, I'll take these to him and tell him straight away"

"Naw, thank you Four! You're always such a good boy. I don't know why Eric has so much trouble dealing with you" She cooed as she patted his jaw before she trotted back into her adjoining office.

Four took a deep breath as he looked at the papers in his hands. How had he gotten roped into this again?

oOoOo

It was nearing midnight when Four walked back into The Girl's med bay. The shock of seeing Eric sitting in the chair, top half sprawled out across the bed and curled around The Girl, snoring softly, was enough to shock him awake though. Eric's right arm was snaked around The Girl's head, his right hand buried in her hair, while his left hand laid on top of her hands, both of which where folded just under her breasts. His head was lying on a pillow of her hair, his face snuggled into the crook of her neck. Eric's face was more peaceful than Four had ever seen it, and it made him look years younger.

Four recovered his senses and moved to quietly place the paperwork on the side table. If he played his cards right, he could do his job and be out of here without even having to deal with the asshole. He was bent over the top of the bed when he noticed the notepad, and what was written on it. His eyes snapped to The Girl's face as he finished reading, finding her bright blue eyes completely alert and her jaw tense. He backed up as she grabbed ahold of Eric's shoulder and gave him a small shake. Eric awakened with a start, the chair crashing to the ground behind him as he stood and drew his large bowie knife before his eyes where even open. He was mid snarl as he came fully awake and realised who he was pointing the knife at. His face relaxed and he yawned as he sheathed his weapon.

"It's just The Stiff. He's not the brightest, but he won't hurt you." Eric half smiles at The Girl as he rights his chair and sits back down. "Number Boy, you took your sweet ass time. Where's that paperwork? I haven't got all night. Pass me the side table while you're at it."

Four dragged the side table over to Eric's chair and placed both his and Eric's paperwork on top. Eric motioned four to the empty chair at the end of The Girl's bed, so he sat down and waited to see what the damage was. While Eric read through Four's completed report, The Girl observed him. So he observed her back.

"Do you two want to get a room or what", Eric said, without looking up from his own report that he was now completing. The Girl's hand shot out, faster than Four could really register, and slapped Eric upside the head so hard, Four was pretty sure he heard The Leader's brain rattle.

"Ow! Shit Kella! That fuckin' hurt!" Eric complains, rubbing the side of his head. It's the first time Four has heard him complain since initiation, and even then, he hadn't complained much. The Girl just rolles her eyes at him and sticks her hand out towards Four. Four takes her hand and introduces himself.

"Hello, I'm Four."

"And she's Kella" Eric interrupted.

"Hey! She can answer for herself" Four responds in a huff

The Girl's... Kella's... mouth squashes into a thin line as she gives her head a small shake. She drops Four's hand. "Actually, she can't, or won't. She's mute. If it's by choice or not, I don't know yet. Not that it matters much. She seems to be the type of person that, if she doesn't want to talk, she may as well've had her tongue cut out." Eric took a deep breath and seemed to consider something. "She 'woke up', about twenty minutes or so after you left." He glares at Four "Because I told her that if she didn't stop fucking around, I was going to shoot her in the fucking face" Eric looks over toward Kella, who was wearing a huge grin "So she opened her eyes and smiled at me." He takes a deep breath "I'd just seriously threatened to blow her brains out, and she was smiling at me! She had zero fucking fear of me whatsoever! What the fuck, man?"

Four couldn't work out why he'd been chosen to witness this little meltdown. Why him? What had he done wrong? Things had been going so well. He took a breath before he answered. "I dunno, maybe you only thought you where serious. If she doesn't talk, she's probably really good with body language, like a Candor. She must've known you weren't gonna hurt her"

Eric was quiet for a moment, then he grunted. "But why wasn't I serious? I saw the feed. I hit her with enough tranq to down a bull and she was still grinning like an idiot. I saw her play possum with trained doctors for hours, and have them convinced that she was out like a light. You should've seen their faces when they walked in here and she was awake, their hands where shaking when they pulled all the wires off off her." The whole time Eric was ranting, his eyes never left Kella's. And she stared back at him with a gentle smile on her face.

He turned to Four, confusion colouring his expression. "I know she's a freak. She's dangerous, Four. She's trouble... So why didn't I just shoot her and be done with it?"

Four took a deep breath and held it while he considered the decision before him. It really was the same decision he'd been struggling with since he first saw the pretty girl on the monitor. But they had now gotten to the crux of the issue. Four exhaled heavily, and made a choice.

"Yes, she could be dangerous. But from what I've seen, she'd only be dangerous if she was provoked. And, she has the potential to be a huge force for good in this faction, and, in this city. You've only got to look at her to see that she's the embodiment of what Dauntless should be. What Dauntless was always supposed to be." Eric was smiling again, oh boy, this could be bad.

"So, my advice is... Don't piss her off and everything will be fine. But you already knew that" He took another deep breath. "So the real questions here are, why are you talking about this in front of her? She may be mute, but there's nothing wrong with her hearing. And, why the hell are you talking to me about this shit? You fucking hate me." Four ducked his head, waiting for the other boot to drop.

Eric's answer both enlightened and confused Four. "I'd be talking about this with her if she'd talk to me. I tried a little with the paper and sign language, but she's not real interested in participating in the conversation." Eric snorted his obvious frustration.

"You know sign language!?" Four cuts in "Seriously?"

"Yes. I'm not just a meat head Four. And there's lots of reasons why I'm talking about this with you. You like to play dumb, but I'm onto you now. You're not as stupid as you look."

That was probably the nicest thing Eric had ever said to him. And looking at his face, it pained him terribly to say it.

"You picked up on how dangerous she is straight away. You also comprehend the risk almost as well as I do. But the biggest reason for me to to discuss this with you, as opposed to one of my colleagues, is because of our intense dislike for each other"

The confusion Four was suffering from must have shown on his face as clear as day, because Eric smiled evilly as he explained further. "If you decide to blab about how I've gone soft, because I can't put a bullet in the pretty lady, no one would ever believe that I'd ever discussed something of this nature with you"

Tinkling laughter rang out from the hospital bed, and both Four and Eric turned toward the beautiful noise, awe written on their faces.


	6. Five

_I don't own Dauntless, or Four, or Eric, or Max, or any song lyrics._

 _I own Kella, but I'll share her with you if you ask me nice ;-)_

 _Unbetta'd_

Five

Kella's bell like laugh still hung in the air when Max walked into the med bay, Eric just managing to pick up his jaw from the ground before Max saw him looking so flabbergasted. Eric jumped from his chair as Four did the same, a matching sober look crossing his features. Eric really was going to have to keep an eye on him, he really wasn't as dumb as he looked. All thoughts of Four flew out of Eric's head as soon as Max opened his mouth.

"Eric!" Max barked "Would you mind explaining to me why the hell I still haven't seen any paperwork on this... situation" his voice seemed to wander off a little at the end as his gaze fell on Kella's small form looking at him through her lashes. Eric thought Max's wispered "Fucking hell" was probably louder than he meant it to be, and he doubted Max would be happy if he'd realised that a blind man could see the worry on his face. "What the fuck is she doing awake? She should be out for hours yet! Why was I not informed?" Max blustered about, already pacing the floor.

"The 'situation' is under control sir. I have the completed paperwork from yesterday's retrieval right here. I was about to send it to your office with Four here as soon as I'd finished debriefing him." Eric's voice was strong and his tone certain as he stood before the Dauntless representative leader.

"Right, well, hand it over then and lets get this mess sorted out. Miss..." Max fades a little again as he extends his hand toward Dauntless' "guest"

"Esarosa. Her name is Kella Esarosa" Eric provided quickly while Kella and Max firmly shook hands.

"Kella." Max seems to have control of his faculties now, Eric notices that his expression holds none of the apprehension it did only a few moments ago. "Hello, and welcome to Dauntless. My name is Max and I run the show around here. When things are going well, anyway. When the shit hits the fan, Eric here is the man you want to see. He's our problem solver" Max smiles indulgently at Kella's chiming giggle as he sits down in the chair Eric had not long vacated, pulling the completed paperwork on the bedside table towards him and reading through it methodically. Eric shifted to stand on the other side of the bed so he can keep an eye on Kella, and also see Max's expression as he reads through Four's report first, and then his own.

Max is about halfway through Eric's report when he looks up at Kella and whispers "Mute?" under his breath. Kella nods once and gives him a tight lipped attempt at a smile. "And a soldier! I'd figured as much when I saw the footage of you walking in. Do you sign any?" Max looked at her hopefully

 _little_ _/small_ * Kella signed warily. It looked to Eric like she just didn't want to talk. He wasn't sure what happened to her out beyond the fence, but he doubted it was all sunshine and lollipops. Eric sighed and signed * _You are full of shit. You sign just fine, you just don't want to_ * The middle finger he got in response was all the conformation that he needed. Max and Four where both watching the interaction closely, waiting for Eric to translate for them. "She signs a bit, not as much as I'd like. She'd do alright around here even without signing though. She's tough and resourceful, and she's a born warrior. She's going to be hell on wheels when she decides she's ready to talk again."

Both Max's and Four's eyes narrowed at Eric's no nonsense assessment of the situation. "What do you mean, ready?" Max questions, looking from Eric, to Kella, and back again in confusion.

"I don't think there's anything physically wrong with her, Max. But, she was a soldier. She said that she fought, got injured, and woke up alone... Now, I have no idea how long she was wandering around the wilderness before she stumbled upon us, but I doubt she's had an easy time of it, and I really doubt that she's ready to talk about it. So, my theory is that she's either, a). traumatised so badly that she can't speak, or b). doesn't want to talk and is as stubborn as fuck" Eric smiles as Kella throws him the bird for the second time inside ten minutes. "My money's on stubborn as fuck"

"Well shit. Haven't you just caused all sorts of trouble already, Miss Esarosa. What are we gonna do with you now?" Max turns toward Eric, and his voice loses the lighthearted lilt it had when he'd been talking to Kella. "You're going to have to be the one to tell Erudite what's going on here. I just can't talk to those nosey barstards. Jeannine's already been on the phone to Harmony because I've been avoiding her calls. I don't even know how she found out, to be honest."

"Jeannine does know already? Jesus Fuck!" Expletive after expletive roll around in Eric's head as he goes into damage control mode instantly. "How much does she know?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. She started ringing not long after you guys walked out the gate. She's pissed. She wanted her brought straight to Erudite for testing."

"No! You can't do that! They'll..." Four's outburst is quickly silenced by the silent rage emanating from Eric's body. "I mean, she's a soldier. She belongs here." Four finishes quietly.

"Number boy's right" the words are sour on Eric's tongue "She belongs here in Dauntless. But I can guarantee that Jeannine's going to want to take her and pick her apart, just to see what makes her tick. We've obviously got a good soldier here, I'd hate to see her going to waste in an Erudite lab" Both Eric and Max visibly shudder at the thought.

"So, what's the plan Mr. Fix It? I have zero idea how to deal with noses. You survived eighteen years with them, you must've learnt a few tricks" Max looks to Eric expectantly as he starts pacing the floor.

"She's got to be boring" Eric looks at Kella with a pained expression. "Dull. Droll. Utterly sleep inducing. She's got to be so boring that Jeannine won't find anything at all of interest about her. So, basically, we're already fucked."

Kella, who had been quiet throughout the whole discussion of her future, glancing from one man to the next in turn as they spoke, snorted loudly and grinned.

"It's not fucking funny Kella." Eric rounded on her, stalking close. "You don't know how it works here, you where barely even listening when I explained the faction system to you. Jeannine is the ultimate nose. She's so busy wondering if she can, she never stops to ask if she should. She's like a fucking robot, all brains, no heart. She doesn't even recognise the factionless as human beings. She barely sees people from other factions as human, let alone someone from outside the fucking fence! That bitch will tear you to pieces Kella! She won't stop until you're broken!" By the time Eric was finished his rant his face was inches from Kella's, his eyes wide and he was visibly panting.

Kella reached two small hands up and patted his cheeks as she smiled at his manic visage, gently wiping away tears before they could be seen by anyone else. Her calm demeanor just pissed Eric off all the more.

"Maybe I misjudged you. Maybe you belong out at Amity with all the tree hugging, banjo strumming..." the rest of Eric's insult was cut off by the sharp slap of Kella's hand across Eric's face. He smiled as he righted himself. Violence was good, violence he could handle. Violence was much better than the road they had been heading down, where he'd have to talk about growing up in Erudite, and how he... felt... about that.

"Right. Dauntless it is then." Max chuckled. "I'll just get Harm to type up a short and boring version of this report to shoot over to Jeannine, before she decides to come and see for herself. I think the best thing we can do is keep Miss Esarosa here for the nine months until next choosing day. There's only a month of initiation left this year, and she looks young enough to be able to blend in with the rest of next year's crop. In the meantime, you both have jobs to do. Math, English, Computer Science, Science, History, Faction History. Find out what she knows, but she'll need lessons to fill in the gaps" Both men started objecting at the same time...

"Sir, I'm not a classroom type teacher..."

"Fuck off! I've got so much on already..."

Max raised both his hands to silence the din.

"Shut up and listen boys! You two are the best ones for the job. Four, you are the computer guy in Dauntless, and you're a teacher for four months out of the year. And Eric... shut up Eric. You where Erudite. You've probably got the highest IQ in this faction, and I'll reduce your leadership workload while you're working on getting little miss all caught up."

If there was a competition for scowling, Eric and Four would be neck and neck for first place right now.

"And as for accommodation..." Max started

"She's staying with me, where I can keep an eye on her." Eric's tone brooked no argument "Especially since I'm being forced to give her kindy lessons, it'll make it easier on me if she's already at my place, we'll get more done." Eric kicked his scowling up a notch as Kella graced him with two middle fingers this time.

"Right. Well, it's been a pleasure too meet you, Miss Esarosa, but I think it's time to get you settled into Dauntless. The techies have been through all your gear already, they say it's all pretty harmless. So Four and Eric can take you and your gear up to Eric's apartment so you can get cleaned up and have a proper rest." Max's smile is bright and cheerful. Eric thinks he might actually be so stressed that he's reverting back to his Amity childhood coping mechanisms. Fucking brainwashing tree huggers.

oOoOo

Eric dials in his eight digit security code, his arm still wrapped tight around Kella, while Four struggles under the weight of her kit. He's trying not to say anything, but Eric can see the wheels in his head turning. He ushers his guest through the door first "Welcome to your new temporary accommodations. There's plenty of room in here, and I'm honestly not usually here much, so feel free to make yourself at home" Letting go of her for the first time since they left the infirmary, he wanders through the apartment turning lights on and shouting out where everything is. It doesn't take long, but by the time he wanders back into the living room, Kella has already divested Four of all her gear. She's pulling crap apart with a single minded determination that rivals Eric's tenacity. It doesn't take long to realise that she's pulling out fresh clothes, shampoo, conditioner, etc.

"You're really good at packing." Four mumbles "How do you fit all that stuff in that small of a bag" He asks, a bit louder.

Kella turns toward Eric to make sure he's watching and signs *inside bigger* with a *duh* expression at him before she goes back to tearing apart her webbing.

Eric chuckles before he translates for an expectant Four "She says it's bigger on the inside."

"She's funny" Four smiles, then sighs "I call truce, Eric. You don't have to like me, I don't have to like you. But I think we share some common goals. So, truce?"

Eric takes a breath "Truce. I agree. She's a handful already and she hasn't even been here for twenty four hours yet. Christ save us once she gets her bearings"

Kella had ignored the pair of them as she trotted through Eric's bedroom and into his bathroom with what seemed like a huge amount of supplies for a simple shower. She left the bathroom door open a crack and it wasn't long before loud music started blasting out of the small room.

"The fuck?" Eric shouted at Four as he strode through his bedroom, straight into his bathroom, with Four on his heels. The sight in front of him was something to behold. Her bottom half was still fully clothed, her camouflage pants sitting low on her hips. But she'd stripped the top half down to a black, strapless, push-up bra... the last thing Eric would've expected to be underneath her army fatigues. She had scars, quite a few of them. Her face was covered with a black, shinny paste, and she was swaying with the music as she spread a thick, purple goop through her hair. Just as she finished with the goop, she started miming the words along with the song, banging her head quite violently as a heavier beat filled the air * _I can't remember anything, can't tell if this is true or a dream. Deep down inside I feel the scream, this terrible silence stops with me. Now that the war is through with me, I'm waking up I can not see. That there's not much left of me. Nothing is real but pain now. Hold my breath as I wish for death, oh please God wake meeee_ *

Eric paid more attention to the scars on her arms as she washed the goop off her hands. There where many, but one stood out in particular. A thick, mottled scar over her left shoulder that continued down to around the middle of her bicep. It was a burn, second and third degree by the young leader's reckoning. That must've hurt like a bitch. It was well healed though, must be years old. He wondered how old she was when it happened. He looked up when he heard her clearing her throat.

 _Problem?_ * Her expression was hard to read with all that black crap on her face, but Eric thought she was amused.

 _That music is loud_ * Eric signed. There was no way she was going to hear anything he said over that noise.

 _Yes. I'm unwinding._ * She stared blankly at his red face.

 _2 AM_ * Eric tries to reason with her. A shoulder shrug is all he gets as she turns around and starts peeling the black shit off her face. It looks like it stings, so Eric backs away slowly. His path is clear, Four having shown his stiff nature by leaving the room as soon as he realised Kella wasn't fully clothed. He wanders back into his lounge room where said stiff is sitting like an uncomfortable lump on his couch.

"Beer?" He calls on his way through to the kitchen

"God yes!"


	7. Six

_I own nothing_ _Unbetta'd_

Six

Four nursed his second beer while he watched Eric down his third. He was jumpy, the only time his knee had stopped bouncing was when he got up to grab Four and himself more beer. Four wondered how much longer Eric could sit before he started tearing the place apart, he'd not even touched the pizza that was spread out on the coffee table getting cold. How long did it take to 'unwind' anyway?

His thoughts where interrupted by Kella wandering out of Eric's bedroom, looking very different to how she had walking in. Her hair was whiter than before, clean and stripped of all the yellow staining that Four hadn't even really noticed until it was gone. It hung over her shoulder and down to her waist in a thick braid, while her tanned skin was scrubbed pink and shiny. She was wearing soft looking, black fitted pants, with a black tank top that displayed a great number of scars on her arms and shoulders. The word 'Metallica' was emblazoned across her ample breast. She had a tattoo on her right shoulder, it was a greyscale portrait of a man with long black hair in clown makeup. A name was scrawled under it, looked like it started with an a. She looked so Dauntless that she took Four's breath away, and judging by the sharp intake of breath he heard coming from Eric's direction, he wasn't the only one.

She walked straight through the lounge and into the kitchen. Four heard the fridge open and glass clink before she wandered back into the room with three beers in hand. She passed one to Four before sitting next to Eric, handing him the second and opening her own. She downed half of it in one go before setting it down to attack the food with gusto. Half a pizza later, Eric still hadn't managed to pick his jaw up, so Kella reached across and did it for him. Four laughed at the lost little boy look on the great and fearless leader's face, while Kella just went back to cramming pizza into her mouth.

She had turned the music down to an acceptable level around the same time as the water had started running, and it was still playing in the bathroom. Four had found he was starting to enjoy the songs he was hearing. They'd become less jarring the more that he heard them. She was finished the pizza and had started on the garlic bread by the time Four finally built up the courage to comment on it. "So, this music's not bad. Who is it?"

She smiled wide as she pointed to the word across her chest and gave Four two thumbs up.

"Metallica was a band from the late 20th and early 21st century. Very few of their recordings have survived" Eric pointed out.

Kella rolled her eyes, grabbed a small black device out of her bag, and threw it at him. Eric caught it and examined it closely for awhile before he gasped and looked up at her wide eyed.

"This thing has Metallica's entire catalog on it! Where the hell did you get this?" The Dauntless leader's Erudite was showing again. The thought of having information that no one else had was making Eric's eyes shine bright. He looked almost human for once.

His enigmatic guest just tapped her nose as she sat back down and necked the rest of her beer. She sighed with contentment as she laid her head back on the lounge and shut her eyes.

"Fuck that shit Esarosa! You can't just dump something like that on me and shrug it off like it's nothin!" Eric blurted as he stood up and started pacing. Kella opened her eyes and cooked an eyebrow at him, but made no move to explain herself. "C'mon, where'd you get it? Is there people still out there?" Eric looked hopeful until Kella signed something at him with a frown. Eric's face fell. "I'm sorry kid" he murmered, sitting back down beside her and rubbing her knee. Kella leaned into him and closed her eyes again.

Four was beyond flabbergasted. It was the first time he'd ever heard those words come out of Eric's mouth. Ever. It was also the first time he'd ever seen Eric back down without getting what he wanted. "Dude" Four whispered, "What'd she say"

Eric glared at Four, reading the awed look on his face. "She said 'You promised'." He grunted "I did, I promised I wouldn't push"

oOoOo

Back in his own apartment, Four reflected on the strangest day of his entire life. 'Strangest day so far', he corrected himself in his head. He was sure that his life was about to get weirder than he'd ever thought possible. Eric being gentle, keeping promises, apologising, confiding in Four... it was all unnatural in the highest degree. The little silver haired woman had definitely given them all a shakeup. Four wasn't convinced that it wasn't for the best though. Anyone that can get Eric to act like a human being has got to be a miracle worker.

oOoOo

It was about midday the next day when Four packed it in. There was nothing he could teach this woman about computers that she didn't already know. There was probably plenty that she could teach him though. He was just glad that he'd only had to get Zeke to fill in for him for half a day, instead of wasting weeks teaching her this crap.

"Righto then Miss Smarty Pants, you are officially no longer my problem" the smarty pants in question gave him a smug grin as she jumped up from the computer chair she was in and bounced toward the door. "Hold on, kiddo, I'll walk you to the leaders offices" Four chuckled to himself at the stares she was getting in the control room. All of the staff's jaws had dropped as he'd walked in with her at 9am this morning, and most of them hadn't picked them back up. In her black cargo pants, combat boots, and dark grey muscle shirt, combined with her tattoo and scars, she was the very definition of Dauntless. It hadn't helped when he'd started asking her to demonstrate her computer skills and she'd blown their collective minds. After a drive by tutorial on Dauntless' OS and their most used programs, she was completely competent in Four's eyes, and so he'd signed her off.

Now, striding through the stone corridors of Dauntless with the only 'foreigner' that anyone inside the city had ever seen, Four could feel the eyes following them. They where nearly at the leaders offices when he saw Kella tense at something. Looking around, Four saw the large group of Erudite walking toward them and his heart sank. His heart sank further when he saw that Jeannine was at the front of the flock of blue. "No" he whispered to himself before he grabbed ahold of Kella's shoulders. "I'm sorry Kella, I'm so sorry. I can't protect you. Don't trust her. Whatever you do, don't trust her" Four let go of her and quickly moved to stand between the two blonde women.

"Jeannine" Four nodded toward the Erudite leader.

"Move" Jeannine doesn't waste any eloquence on a lowly control room supervisor like Four, she walks straight past him to Kella.

"Kella Esarosa, I presume. My name is Jeannine Matthews, I am the leader of Erudite." Jeannine offers a handshake, Kella snarls at her. "Well. How delightfully... primitive. You'll want to find your words before we get to Erudite headquarters, Miss Esarosa. It'll be much easier for both of us, but especially for you."

Kella snarls again as two of Jeannine's guards grab ahold of her elbows. She takes a breath and something in her eyes changes. Four can't quite put his finger on what it is, and before he really has a chance to look, all hell breaks loose. It starts with a sideways headbutt from Kella, and one guard drops like a stone. She turns to the other guard and throws a left handed uppercut at him and he's unconscious before he hits the ground.

Someone has got to do something to stop this from spiralling out of control, so Four does the first thing he can think of, and the last thing he ever thought he'd do. He yells for Eric's help.

Eric is out of his office in a flash, but Kella still manages to take down three more Erudite guards and have a fourth draw his gun at her before Eric can get there. Kella is wearing a feral smile as she growls under her breath at the armed guard who is staring her down. Eric sighs as he walks between the pair, turning his back on Kella to glare at the guard now pointing a gun at him.

"Jeannine. How nice it is to see you down among the 'cave dwellers'. To what do we owe the pleasure?" Behind him Kella has straightened up from her defensive crouch, and has lifted an eyebrow at Eric behind his back. The whole thing would amuse Four if he weren't so damn panicked. He has no idea how Eric can be so calm and casual while staring down a terrified Erudite with a loaded gun.

"Eric Coulter" Jeannine taps the guard on the shoulder and motions for him to lower his gun "How lovely to see you again." Her smile is poisonously sweet, her voice is simpering "I wonder if you could do me a kindness, my boy. We seem to be having a degree of difficulty obtaining the cooperation of our city's guest. Would you be so kind as to obtain said cooperation for us?"

"I don't see that you should be needing her cooperation at the present time Jeannine" Eric's voice was formal and firm "In case this demonstration wasn't enough to make it clear, Miss Esarosa is a trained soldier. And being a trained soldier, Dauntless is the only place for her. The council agreed that we where the faction in the best position to assess Miss Esarosa's abilities. The agreement was that she would remain here until the next choosing, where she would be integrated seamlessly into our society." Four is impressed. It took a mountain of courage to just stand in front of Jeannine, let alone tell her to go to hell.

"Mr Coulter, I'm afraid the agreement has changed. It seems that the council was unaware that the poor girl is mute. Erudite hospital is the only place for the unwell, and she is clearly... unwell." The only reason Four caught the flicker of anger crossing Eric's face was because he was watching for it. Max, who had appeared halfway through Jeannine's revelation, cleared his throat.

"She's not lying, I just got the call from the council. They've ruled Erudite as Kella's guardians, at least until the choosing. They said that if she's not 'well' by that time though, Erudite may have her for longer" Max looked about as happy about the situation as Four was. Eric, on the other hand, seemed to be made of stone. His face was blank as he turned away from Jeannine and bent down to Kella's ear. Four would love to know what the hell he said to her, because Kella calmly walked to the Erudite leader and bowed her head.

Jeannine beckoned for one of her security personnel to cuff the tiny woman, and, once she was secure, turned to Eric and Max. "Thank you for your cooperation. I'll be in touch."

Four was ready to fly into Eric as soon as he turned from watching the girl disappear after Jeannine; but the look of dark fury on his face was enough to make Four take a step back. It was then that Four realised what Eric had actually done. He'd saved Kella's life. To what end, he didn't know. In light of the 'treatment' she was likely to receive at Erudite, death might be cleaner. But Jeannine wasn't known for her even disposition. If Kella had fought, she would've died.

And so, Kella Esarosa was lead out of Dauntless, in chains, by a bunch of noses... and there wasn't a damn thing Four, Eric, or anybody else could do about it.


	8. Seven

_I'm loving that you guys are enjoying my story, it's been rattling around in my head in some form or another since I first read the books. I'm at the end of the stuff I had pre written now, so updates are going to slow down a little. I'm aiming for a chapter every two to three days, but I can't promise anything as life can sometimes happen._

 _I don't own Divergent, Eric, Four, Max or Jeannine._

 _I do own Kella and Mr Droll_

 _Unbetta'd_

Seven

Eric sat bolt upright in bed, sweat pouring from his body and his hands shaking like a leaf. This was getting beyond ridiculous. Up until Kella's departure, Eric had never even had a dream that he remembered, let alone a nightmare. But since then, nightmares had woken him every night. They left him feeling hollow, bereft of something he didn't quite understand. His chest ached, and the uneasy feeling in his gut that he'd had when Erudite first took Kella, had not left him for a moment in the last seven months.

Guilt was not an emotion that Eric was familiar with, and as soon as the lights went out, it ate at him. He should've stormed Erudite. He should've taken as many units as would follow him, and he should've stormed Erudite six months ago, when he realised that none of his bargaining was going to release Kella from Jeannine's poisonous grasp. But he hadn't. He had kept plotting, kept playing the game her way. Petitions and embargoes, politics and posturing. None of it was going to get her back. He had failed, and Kella was paying the price every day.

Eric had read the reports that Jeannine had provided the other leaders with, the reports that stated Kella's 'treatment' was progressing slowly, and that she was being kept 'comfortable'. But, unlike the other leaders, Eric could read between the lines of those reports. Jeannine was torturing her, and it wasn't getting her anywhere, Kella hadn't made a sound since she'd left the Dauntless compound.

The nightmares where starting to wear Eric down. It was roughly the same thing, every night. He leans down and whispers in her ear "Don't fight, it's ok. I'll come for you, you won't be there for long." He can see the trust and calm acceptance in her slightly lilac eyes as she moves away from him and toward her doom. Every night, he watched Jeannine string her up on the rack, or poke her full of holes, or electrocute her. And every night he watched as Jeannine went just that little bit too far. He watched the light fade from Kella's eyes as she drifted away from this world... every... single... night...

oOoOo

"That's enough Eric" Max warned him as he stood over the top of another gutless Abnegation representative.

"No!" Eric was finally losing it properly "No! It's not enough Max! These fucking stiffs where the ones that sent her over to that hell hole in the first place, so they can be the ones to witness what's being done to the girl on a daily basis!"

"You don't have any proof that the girl is being mistreated" The stiff's ignorance grated on Eric's last nerve.

"Proof! You want proof? I was born in Erudite! I spent my first eighteen years there! I know what goes on in their 'laboratories'. If we don't get that girl out of there before this year's initiation, there won't be anything left of her!" The man in grey trembled underneath Eric's fury as he unleashed it. "So, you are going to come with me now. We are going straight to Erudite, and you are going to demand an audience with Kella Esarosa. No one outside of Erudite has seen her since those barstards took her, so it's not an unreasonable request. We are going to get the proof that you need to make the council revoke the noses guardianship over her, and you will take the proof to them. Have I made myself clear?"

The man from Abnegation nodded his head violently as he stuttered out his affirmation, his hands shaking so badly that he dropped the folder he was holding. Eric stepped back in order to give him some room to collect himself and made a point of studying his surroundings. They where in an old drainage ditch, effectively in the middle of nowhere. Well, as 'middle of nowhere' as you can get in a fenced city. It had been Eric and Number Boy's idea, and he hoped it paid off. He had been pretty sure that the reason Jeannine had been able to stay three steps ahead of them this whole time was because she had access to Dauntless security footage. Four had confirmed his theory in a clandestine meeting on the roof, and had suggested this place as a huge blind spot in the cities camera coverage.

The stiff finally got his shit together, so Eric grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and shoved him into the passenger seat of his own car.

"You sure about this kid? You're walking into the lions den while holding up a sacrificial goat as a shield..." Max's concern, while probably not misplaced, was unwanted. Eric would do what he had to do to stop this nightmare.

"I'll be fine, Boss Man. I'll make my own way home." Eric's cocky half grin didn't reach his eyes, but it seemed to mollify Max for the time being. He could still feel his eyes on him as he slipped into the drivers seat and dropped his foot flat to the floor, speeding along the ditch toward the Erudite headquarters.

oOoOo

Eric had been eighteen years old, and a child, the last time he walked through these gates. He was a different person now. People that had known him back then probably wouldn't even recognise him. The stares they where receiving though, the huge, leather clad, blonde Dauntless striding through the courtyard with the little, grey stiff trotting beside him, where almost worth having to come back here again. He might have to 'kidnap' another Abnegation one day, just for fun; maybe go for a run through Candor with them.

Jeannine's office was just as he'd remembered it, blue and boring. Eric bounced his knee for the entire time that she kept them waiting, making no secret of his impatience. The Erudite leader eventually graced them with her presence, whooshing through the door like a rogue gust of wind, all fake apologies and fake smiles.

"So, Mr Droll, Mr Coulter, to what do we owe the pleasure of your presence here at Erudite?"

Eric gestured for the mousey man next to him to start.

"Yes, um, Ms Matthews. We need to see our cities guest" Eric refrained from rolling his eyes at the 'demand' from the stiff, instead clearing his throat before Jeannine could speak.

"What our colleague meant to say is that we require an audience with one Miss Kella Esarosa, Ms Matthews, and we require it immediately. No one outside of your faction has seen her in seven months, and the question of her welfare has been brought up on more than one occasion. Since she is still technically a ward of the state, she is the responsibility of all five factions, and all five factions have a vested interest in her welfare." Eric's grey companion turned his head to look at him and all he could think of for a moment was how he needed Kella here to close his mouth for him.

"I don't see what Erudite has done to earn this sudden distrust from her fellow factions..." Jeannine's mouth slammed shut as she read the paperwork the stiff had thrust in front of her.

"Very well then. If you'll follow me, I'll take you for your audience." The little stiff had just as much trouble keeping up with the Erudite leader as he'd had with the Dauntless leader, but they reached Kella's "treatment room" quickly. Jeannine was gone as quickly as she'd appeared, with a flourish of her hand toward the correct door, and a meaningful look at the guards posted outside, she disappeared.

Eric took a breath before he opened the door. It was something straight out of one of his nightmares. Kella was chained to a hook in the ceiling, wearing nothing but a pair of summer pajamas. Her hair was a knotted up ball at the back of her head and her skin looked sallow and dry. There where bandages on her wrists and poking out from under her pajama top. Eric was about to turn around and go after Jeannine when she looked up. The fire he had seen in her back at Dauntless still shone brightly in her eyes as she smiled at him. He walked over to her quickly but a guard stepped between them before he could reach her.

"You can't touch her, Dauntless."

"Try and stop me" Eric replied as he walked through the guard and reached the hanging girl. He grabbed for her waist with one arm while the other reached for her wrists. She sighed as he took her weight, letting her head fall into Eric's shoulder while he rubbed the circulation back into her hands. Eric whispered hurried apologies into her ear as he held her, but Kella shook her head, dismissing them.

"Is she alright" came a soft enquiry from the doorway, Eric had forgotten about his stiff companion.

"She'll live" Eric grunted as Kella smiled into his shoulder.

The stiff hesitantly walked into the cell and came to stand before Eric and Kella "I am so very, deeply sorry that you have been treated this way my dear" Eric looks down to see her give the little grey man a half smile and a nod. "We are going to get you back to Dauntless as soon as we can, but I need to take some pictures of how we've found you here today first. Is that ok with you." Kella nods and the stiff motions Eric to step away from her.

"No pictures!" A guard tries to step between the stiff and the hanging girl. Eric grabs him by the throat and throws him through the open door.

"Fuck off" He growls at the other guards and they all take three steps back.

Without Eric's support, Kella sags where she hangs. Her body looks broken, but she faces the camera with determination in her eyes. Her mouth is squashed into a thin line, and it makes her strong jawline more prominent. It makes her look anything but weak.

Eric was patient while the stiff took his pictures, but as soon as he got the nod, he was back at the girl's side, taking the weight off her arms and wrists. She dropped her head into his colarbone while he whispered instructions into her ear.

"I'm going to get you out of here as soon as I can, but it's been harder than I thought it would be. I'm gonna come back with Four and Max, and we're gonna get you out. We're gonna try not to start a war in the process, but we're gonna get you out regardless. If you have to run, can you run?" Eric feels her nod her head "If you have to fight, can you fight?" She nods her head more enthusiastically this time and it makes Eric smile. "You keep doing what you're doing until we get back, ok? Save your strength, and make sure you're ready. I'll be back as soon as I can." Kella looked up at Eric and gave him a peaceful smile that confused him almost as much as it unsettled him. He didn't comprehend how she could be so very calm when she'd been tortured every day for the last seven months, and she'd just been told that she would keep being tortured for an undetermined amount of time.

The tap on his shoulder from his Abnegation companion brought him back to reality and he slowly released his stranglehold on Kella's waist. She sagged into her chains again as he let her go. Eric forced himself to turn around and walk out of the room without looking back. He knew if he turned to look at her, he wouldn't have the strength to walk away like he needed to. He walked straight out of Erudite, mercifully not putting eyes on Jeannine on the way. Eric didn't know if he could keep a cool head if he ran into her so soon after seeing the condition Kella was in.

He drove the stiff back to Abnegation's offices in his own car, escorting him right into Andrew Prior's office. The looks he got here where even better than the ones he'd gotten walking through Erudite with his pet stiff.

He was there until after dark, obtaining the documents he needed, and some that he didn't, to ensure his plan was viable. By the time he jumped back onto the train to Dauntless, he'd had enough of the stiffs to last him a lifetime. Unfortunately, he couldn't do this on his own. He went directly to Four's apartment as soon as he jumped from the train, bashing loudly on the door and shouting

"Hey stiff! Get your shit together! We've got noses to break!"


	9. Eight

_This was a fun chapter to write, I hope you guys have just as much fun reading it._

 _I own my OC, and nothing else._

 _Unbetta'd_

Eight

"Hey stiff! Get your shit together! We've got noses to break!" Four groans when he hears Eric's war cry and goes straight into damage control mode. This could get messy fast. He swings the door open to see a quietly manic looking Eric with his fist raised, ready to belt into his door again. Four watches as Eric takes in the fact that he's already dressed in a patrol uniform and has all of Kella's kit sitting beside the door. Four had been in the control room when Eric jumped off the train, and he had guessed they where going after Kella. A silent communication moves between them and Eric grabs the webbing while Four grabs the pack. Four remembered the huge quantity of medical supplies Kella had pulled out when she was showing them her kit, and he wondered how much of it they would need tonight.

As they move quickly toward Max's living quarters, Four takes in the violent energy that simmers just below the surface of Eric's quiet visage, and he worries.

Four takes the lead when they knock on Max's door, first putting his finger to his lips, and then motioning for him to let them in. He wanders through the large apartment, taking out microphones on his way while Max looks on in horror. Four guessed that Jeannine didn't inform him of how extensive her "extra security" was inside Dauntless.

"There we go" Four sighs as he rips out a microphone from underneath the range hood in the kitchen "That was the last one"

"I'm going to murder that bitch" Max exclaims vehemently

"Get in line" Eric snaps back

oOoOo

Jumping onto a moving train, in the dark, with a pack on your back, isn't any easier than it sounds. But as they're quite used to jumping onto moving trains, they all make it without too much trouble. Dodging the cameras dotted throughout the city is more problematic. But, again, they manage. Right up until they reach Erudite. Security gets so tight that within two blocks of the HQ, the three Dauntless soldiers reach 'fuck it' and just walk in.

Jeannine is waiting in the lobby with a platoon of guards when they walk in. Her smile could freeze fire as she eyes Eric in particular. Four wonders what exactly went on between those pair. When Eric first transfered, it seemed he was Jeannine's favourite person in the city. Now she was staring daggers at him and Four was unsure exactly when this change had occurred.

"Max" Jeannine's voice comes out barely above a whisper, "you are here for the girl?"

"Damn right we're here for the girl, Jeannine! What the hell where you thinking? Keeping the first human being we've seen from outside this city in three... hundred... years... chained up in a fucking torture chamber!" Max's anger is barely controlled. Eric doesn't say a word, but his jaw is clenched together so tight that it's turning white. Four tries to focus on his breathing, attempting to look like an impartial bystander, when he's anything but.

"She didn't start off chained up!" Jeannine tries to justify herself "It was only when she kept escaping and I kept finding her sitting in my chair in my office that we started restraining her."

Eric growls. Max puts a hand on his shoulder and glares at Jeannine. "Take us to her. We're taking her home"

"I'm afraid that's not possible. Until we know for sure that her voice box works, she's not leaving. And we haven't been able to confirm that, no matter what stimuli we expose her to. Cold, heat, pain, electricity... she doesn't respond to anything. If she hadn't scored so well in her testing at Dauntless, I'd question if she even had a functioning brain" Jeannine's backhanded compliment seems to kickstart Eric.

"So, you're worried about her inability to communicate. You realise that she can sign, don't you?" Four can just about see the wheels spinning in Eric's head

"We are aware that she can sign, however, she has refused any form of communication since she's been in our care. I'm not happy with her leaving here until I know for sure that her voice box is functional. We need to know if she's just playing with us"

"Fine" Eric walks straight through the crowd of blue uniforms with Max and Four in his wake. The blue parted before him with ease. If Four didn't know any better, he would say that Eric had a reputation here already. That couldn't be right though, Eric hasn't set foot in Erudite since he transfered out... had he? When Jeannine fell into line behind him and Eric lead them straight to Kella's cell, everything clicked together in Four's head. Eric was here today, but not in an official Dauntless capacity. He'd somehow managed to fanangle his way into Erudite to check on their prisoner, and that's the reason behind his urgency. He was worried what Jeannine would do to Kella now that they knew she was being mistreated. Four marveled, and not for the first time, at Eric getting exactly what he wants, while managing to give absolutely nothing away. The man had a gift.

When the guard opened the door to Kella's cell, Eric rushed in before Four could see what was going on. As he moved closer he saw why. Kella was bloody from head to foot. She hung limply by her wrists while Eric supported her by the waist. Her mouth and jaw where swollen and she had a black eye that was so bad she couldn't open it.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?" Eric's roar fills the small cell and overflows into the surrounding hall "JEANNINE! WHAT DID YOU DO?"

"Stop being so dramatic, Eric, she will be over the worst of it by tomorrow night. She heals remarkably quickly." Three men stare at Jeannine like she has two heads. It takes a second for Four to even register this level of evil.

"Keys" Eric's quiet rage brooks no argument and a guard hands him the keys before Jeannine can even protest. Eric is quick to undo the worn prisoner's cuffs with one hand while he continues to support her waist with the other.

"You're not taking her until I'm sure she's not a liability, Eric. She can't go to Dauntless if she can't even shout out a warning"

Eric gently sets Kella on her feet and moves behind her so that they are both facing Jeannine. He slowly brings one arm around her waist while the other gently brings her arm up and around the back of his neck. He moves his hand down to her ribcage and looks pointedly at Jeannine while he tickles Kella's side gently.

Kella giggles.

Eric tickles her harder, tightening his hold around her waist to support her as she bends foward, laughing loudly.

The only sound is Kella's bell like laugh, everyone else is stunned into silence. Eric's face is a stone as he slowly stops tickling her and gently brings her torso up to rest against his chest.

"Well" Max is the first to recover his voice "looks like her voice box works. We'll just be taking Miss Esarosa back home to Dauntless now Jeannine, and you can expect an inquest sometime soon"

Jeannine's face turns beet red as she splutters "No. No. You can't take her! I need to do further testing. She's not leaving here, I won't allow it. No!"

While Jeannine had been talking, Four had noticed Kella's hand was inside one of the pockets of her webbing. She brought it out now and threw two small packages, one to Max and the other to Four. Four looked at his to see that it was a packet of earplugs. He looked up to see her already shoving a pair in Eric's ears, and so he stuck his in too. He glanced at Max to see him doing the same, and by the time he looked back at Kella, she was pointing what looked like a small remote at her music device. She looked up at him and smiled as she raised her remote over her head and pressed a button. Then all hell broke loose.

Even through the earplugs, the music from Erudite's PA system was so loud that it hurt. It was all driving guitar and snarling lyrics. Jeannine and her guards dropped to their knees, grabbing at their ears while their noses started bleeding.

Kella grabbed ahold of Eric's hand with her free one and lead him out of the cell and down the hall a bit while Max and Four followed. She lead them into a room full of computers and locked the door behind them. The song lyrics where starting to get ridiculously relevant as a voice full of gravel sang about being tortured and surviving, about never breaking and never forgetting, and about vengeance being "mine mine mine".

Eric smirked and signed something. Kella smiled and nodded eagerly at him as she motioned Four over to a terminal and sat him down in front of it. She pulled several flash drives out of her webbing, and opened up a program in front of him. She smiled and pointed at the screen, and then the flash drives. Four gets the point as she leaves to sit in front of another terminal with more flash drives.

Four focuses on the program that Kella has opened for him and blanches as he realises what it is. It's a detailed log of what Erudite has done to Kella since she's been here, with video files. He closes his eyes for a moment while he gets his shit together. He copies all the data onto the flash drives as fast as he can, all the while trying not to absorb anything he was seeing.

When he finishes, he turns to find Eric and Max both watching over Kella's shoulder as she pulls information from the system. She's finished by the time Four makes his way over. He hands her the drives and she grabs ahold of Eric so she can stuff them back into her webbing. She digs through the gear and pulls out a dozen knives and four handguns from God knows where. She hands them out, taking her own share as well. Kella makes a *move out* sign and they all follow Eric back through Erudite's corridors. They're in the loby before they run into trouble.

Kella's music wasn't as deafening this far away from her cell. The guards that had been left behind looked uncomfortable, but not incapacitated. Thankfully, there was only ten, and none where armed. Eric and Kella both charged at the same time. It struck Four how in sync they where, one always aware of where the other was, moving around each other in a way that complimented the way the other was moving. They moved in what looked like a choreographed dance, taking out eight together before Four and Max could catch up. "Nice of them to leave us one each" Four thought to himself sarcastically as he took out his Erudite guard with a single punch to the jaw.

They ran through the glass doors and into the cold night, straight towards the train line. They reached the scaffolding and immediately started monkeying upwards, Eric having thrown Kella halfway up from the ground. Everyone was ridding themselves of their ear plugs when they reached the top, so Four took his out as well.

"How long" Eric shouted. One day he would learn the damn schedule.

"Two minutes" is Four's brief reply. They can hear shouting from below.

"We might not have that long" Max says as he looks over the edge of the platform, taking a step back when shots are fired.

Kella limps to the edge and starts firing. Five shots later and there is a huge crash below them as an old billboard falls down and covers all the lower footholds in the scaffolding, preventing the guards from following us, but effectively trapping us until the train gets there. She then goes and leans on Eric as he stands like a boulder, waiting for the train. His arm comes out and wraps around to steady her as she relaxes into him.

Two minutes is a long time when you're standing on a three storey high platform, waiting for a train that won't stop, while idiots that don't know how to use guns shoot at you. After what felt like an absolute age, Four could hear the train. As it came into view they all started jogging, and then running. Eric was the first up, opening the doors and reaching out to drag Kella in. Max was in straight after her, leaping in without help like it was standing still. He wasn't wearing Kella's pack though. Four struggled to keep up the pace needed as he watched the end of the platform get closer. Eric saw his predicament and leapt foward, dragging him into the car in much the same manner as he had Kella.

The ride back to Dauntless is quiet. Eric treated Kella as best as he could in the dark with the supplies she passed to him from the pack on Four's back. She threw some warmer clothes on over her filthy pyjamas and curled up in Eric's lap for the rest of the trip.

Kella stumbles and falls as she jumps from the train, rolling as she hits the ground. Four is so tired that he almost falls himself, taking a few extra strides to balance himself before he turns to help the little blonde. Eric is already there, picking her up and carrying her bridal style the rest of the way.

When they get back into the Dauntless compound, Max bids Kella "Welcome home sweetie" before he takes his leave and stumbles toward his quarters. Four knows there's going to be a mountain on paperwork tomorrow, but even Max doesn't care for bureaucracy after a night like tonight.

Four follows Eric as he carries Kella to his apartment, stopping just inside the door to drop her pack.

"I'm really glad you're back home, Kella. Feel better soon" He mumbles as Eric gently places her on the lounge. She smiles at him and Eric turns around and offers him his hand.

"Thank you for coming with, Four"

Four is floored. A handshake, a thankyou, and he called him by name. Twelve months ago, he wouldn't have thought it possible, but he thinks there might actually be a human lurking within the stone cold leader.

 _The song is Alice Cooper's "Vengeance is Mine", if anyone wanted to know :-)_


	10. Nine

_I'm trying something new with this update. I'm hoping it fixes the problem with the emails. I'm new at this, and writing it all from a tablet, so please bear with me while I sort out the kinks_ ;-)

 _I own nothing_

 _Unbetta'd_

Nine

Four left quickly, looking dead on his feet. Eric called medical and ordered a house call for Kella before he did anything else. He had her lying on the couch with her boots off by the time the medic got there. He could've called for a doctor, but a Dauntless medic seemed like a better idea. All of their doctors where either on loan from Erudite, or Erudite transfers that where trained by the Erudite hospital; and Eric didn't trust them. Smiley the field medic, however, had been born Dauntless. His parents had both been born Dauntless, as where their parents before them. Eric knew this because when he'd been knifed by a factionless, Smiley was the medic that kept him distracted by talking non stop, while he cleaned out the wound and sewed him up with no local anesthetic. Eric trusted him with his life.

Smiley whistled long and low as he caught sight of his patient. "Wow, man. What the hell did they do to her? She looks like she spent the near eight months with the factionless, not with the noses."

"They wanted her to talk, she didn't wanna. She won." Eric sumerises for him.

"Holy shit woman! If you're the winner, I'd hate to see the other guy." Smiley chuckles to himself as he gets to work examining the 'winner'. It doesn't take him long with a portable x-ray scanner to find out what's slowing her up. She has four broken toes, a broken finger, five broken ribs and a fractured collarbone. She also had fresh contusions all over her body and many half healed wounds and scars. The ones that make Eric squeeze his knuckles the tightest are the mostly healed electrical burns that snake diagonally from her hip to her shoulder and curl up her neck.

After a thorough examination, Smiley strongly suggests that Kella would be best off in the med bay. Kella shakes her head firmly at this and grabs ahold of the lounge to emphasise her point. It was only after Eric promised him that he could come and examine her, here in his apartment, three times a day until she healed, and gave him the code for the door, that Smiley was content to leave. He strapped her ribs, splinted her finger, put her left arm in a sling, redressed the wounds that Eric had tended to on the train and gave her some pills to take.

"Now, Missy, you rest up now and I'll be back in the morning to check up on you. Be good now, you hear?"

Kella nodded obediently as Smiley packed up his gear and walked out the door.

As soon as he was gone she ripped the sling off. She was starting on the splint when Eric grabbed ahold of her hands.

"Oh, hell no! Save me from getting in trouble and just leave that on now, ok? Even if it's just for one night. Please?" She rolled her eye at him, but left the splint on. She signed * _sleep_ * at him with her good hand.

"Ok kid, bedtime" Eric said as he gently picked her up and carried her to his bedroom. He got her into bed was turning to go sleep on the lounge like he did last time when she grabbed his hand. He looked at her as she signed * _Stay_ * and his head and heart went to war. This was a bad idea, a very bad idea. When she signed * _Please_ * the war was over. He climbed in behind her and held her tight to his chest. And for the first time in nearly eight months, Eric slept peacefully through the night.

oOoOo

He was warm and content as he slowly woke from the best night's sleep he ever remembered having. His face was buried in a warm neck, he had one hand on a breast, and one hand wrapped around a waist. A pert backside was pleasantly pressed into his groin and he grunted and groaned when it wiggled, squeezing the warm body closer to him. A breathy sigh was what woke him fully, and he suddenly realised that he wasn't dreaming. He raised his head as she turned her face toward him, her eyes dark with lust. It took every ounce of Eric's control to let go of her and jump out of bed, throwing a hurried apology over his shoulder as he fled to the bathroom.

He was a bad man, a very bad man. She was injured; she'd just been tortured for months for Christ's sake. And here he was, groping her like a schoolboy while she slept. He threw himself into a cold shower, trying desperately to scrub the feeling of her warm body off his skin so he could gain control of his faculties once again.

When he emerged from the bathroom, she was no longer in the bed. This was bad, she was supposed to be on bed rest, Smiley was gonna kill him. He followed the sound and smell of bacon sizzling out to his kitchen and found her over his stove, a large pile of bacon on a plate beside her, and a strip in her mouth. She was just starting on the eggs. She turned and threw a loaf of bread at him and pointed at his toaster.

"How many?" He asked. She held up three fingers and pointed to herself, so he toasted six while she cooked half a dozen eggs.

He carried everything to the table and they sat together and ate in companionable silence. Eric enjoyed his meal immensely, and not just because the bacon was cooked crispy. There was no inane chatter, no awkward small talk, no irritating questions. None of the things that made Eric avoid the mess hall on most days and eat on his own in his apartment. Kella was focused on her food like she hadn't eaten in weeks, and he wondered how often Erudite bothered feeding her.

The door opened and a cheerful Smiley bustled in with his medical kit. "Good morning, Eric. Kella, what are you doing out of bed and with no sling or splint on?"

Kella smiled sweetly and shrugged her good shoulder while Eric filled the medic in on her night. "She took the sling off last night, but I made her keep the splint on. She still had it on when she woke up, so she must've taken it off while I was in the shower. She slept well, hardly moved an inch all night. She wouldn't take the painkillers, but she took her antibiotics last night and this morning."

"Well, could be worse I guess, she is definitely Dauntless." Smiley sighed as he grabbed out the x-ray "Now, Four mentioned something about accelerated healing. Let's have a look at how accelerated it is." He scans her finger first. "Well, we're around halfway done there. One more day in a splint should do it"

Kella rolled her eyes and hrmphed at that, but both Eric and Smiley ignored her.

He did her collarbone next. "This one's good. I'd still go easy on it for a couple of days, but it's mostly healed, now let's check those ribs" He motioned her to move to the lounge and she shifted without complaint. He moved the scanner over her still strapped ribs, clicking his tongue as he went. "I've never seen anyone heal this fast. I mean, you'll still need to be strapped for a couple of days, but you'll be completely better inside a week. Who are you?"

Kella signs at him and the bewildered medic looks to Eric for a translation. "Shower" Eric sighs, "She wants to know if she can take all this crap off and shower."

"Oh, sure. Of course." He turns back to his patient. "We can take all the bandages off now and put them back on after you get cleaned up" Kella smiles brightly "But, I can't let you shower on your own at the moment" Kella's bright smile turned into a dark frown. "Just for today, ok? If you have a fall, you could really do some damage. And I don't trust this fast healing thing you have going on, I've got no experience with it." She rolled her eyes at him, but nodded her comprehension. "Right, so, you have a few options. I could help you, or I could go and get a female nurse or medic..." He trailed off as Kella was already pointing at Eric. "Um, ok. Sure. Eric, she's obviously the most comfortable with you. So, shower the girl"

Smiley's eyebrows where so high they where hidden under his hair as he looked expectantly at Eric. Oh, boy, was he in trouble.

Kella giggled and pushed at Smiley's shoulder on her way past him to her kit, where she started pulling out some now familiar paraphernalia. She pushed Eric down so he was sitting on the lounge and she then sat between his legs, facing away from him. She passed him a comb and a bottle of purple goopy crap. Smiley started laughing and stood to leave.

"Well, you're going to be here for awhile Eric. Here's a tip from a father of three daughters, start at the bottom and section it off where you can. You're good to take her strapping off to shower her?" Eric nodded "Ok then. I'll be back around lunch time to strap her back up and redress her wounds." And he was out the door before Eric could gather his wits enough to mount a counter argument.

The woman between his knees threw her head back and looked at him upside down with a cheshire grin. Eric pushed her head foward and grabbed what he thought where the ends of her hair. Here he was; Eric Coulter, youngest and most feared leader of the warrior faction, the most dauntless of Dauntless, he who's ice cold glare strikes fear into the hearts of grown men... playing hairdresser and nursemaid. The worst part was, he wasn't sure that he minded.

oOoOo

It took two hours, but in the end Kella's hair was knot free and completely coated in purple goop. So where Eric's arms, up to his elbows. He figures he'll just wash it off in the shower. They move into the bathroom. Kella turns on her music device and puts it on top of the shower door. She then holds her shirt up while he unstraps her.

"Are you sure you don't want me to go and grab a nurse?" Eric asks hopefully. She shakes her head vigorously

 _Don't want them to see my weakness_ * she signs with a solemn expression. He understood that. She wanted as few people as possible to see her while she's not at her best. He had similar trust issues.

"Ok" He's a little floored that it's him that she trusts, but he's not going to argue with her. He runs the water, carefully helps her undress and step into the shower. Eric takes his shirt off and steps in after with just his black jeans on. They work together to take the tape off her dressings while she's under the water. All the while, he's trying not to actually look at the naked woman in front of him. He's failing miserably on that part. The purple from her hair is running down her body, leaving streaks of clean skin in its wake. She leans back to rinse her hair while Eric's hands are holding the small of her back to keep her balanced. She's having trouble, only being able to use one hand. So he wraps one arm around her tighter and reaches up to help rinse with his other hand. He has one arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her tight toward him, and one hand buried in her hair, massaging her scalp. The urge to bend his face to hers is so intense that it hurts. A man is singing that "Nothing else matters" in the background and she makes a little relaxed noise, deep in her throat. He almost gives in. He wants to give in. He wants to just say "Fuck it", devour her mouth, press her up against the wall of the shower and lose himself in her. She'd let him do it too. She trusted him.

It was that very trust that allowed Eric to maintain control. He'd never been trusted before, not ever. Even back at Erudite, no one trusted him. And here in Dauntless, he was feared and respected, but not trusted. Kella probably only trusted him because she didn't know any better, but Eric desperately wanted to deserve that trust.

So he helped her finish showering, even helping her towel off and get dressed when she got out. But he kept control. He helped her out to the lounge and sat her down. He then grabbed some fresh clothes and had his second cold shower for the day.

He was dry and dressed, washing his hands again, when he realised something and stomped out of the bathroom.

"It stains! It fucking stains, Kella! My hands are purple for Christ's sake!"

Kella's laugh was starting to sound obnoxious to Eric, so he started towards her with the intention of shutting her up. She squealed like a kid and jumped away, but not fast enough. Eric held her close to him while he interrogated her "Did you know it stained? You little bitch! You knew it stained! I'm purple up to my elbows, woman! What sort of fearless leader is fucking purple?" Her laugh was bordering on hysterical as Eric held her tight against him, holding pressure on her ribs to stop her from hurting herself. She reached her arms up and cupped his cheeks with her hands as her laughter slowed, mirth still written all over her face. She was so beautiful when she was happy that it took Eric's breath away.

He was almost leaning in when the sound of a throat being cleared brought him back to his senses. He looked up to see Max, Four and Smiley in his open doorway, openly staring at him wrapped around Kella.

"That's not good for her ribs Eric, put my patient down right now!"


	11. Ten

_I'm so sorry peeps. What did I say a few chapters ago about life happening? I'm not usually one for excuses, but I have a really good one this time. We had a fish incident/disaster (sorry Kate, I know I promised no fish in this story, but you know how it is). Our five foot, saltwater tank up and cracked on us. There where no fish in it yet, but about 300 liters of saltwater went through a wall, up the hallway and into my girls' bedroom. I've spent the last week or so drying out carpet and washing/drying towels. :-/_

 _I will try desperately to get another chapter out this week sometime, but, in the meantime I own Kella, my medic and my mechanic, and that's it. I don't own Divergent, Dauntless, or any songs._

 _Unbetta'd_

Ten

Max is about to knock on Eric's door when they hear an interesting shout from inside the apartment.

"It stains! It fucking stains, Kella! My hands are purple for Christ's sake!"

Smiley stops Max and puts in the code for the door. He quietly opens it and steps through. Four can hear Kella laughing as he and Max walk through after the medic. Kella's laugh is cut short with a squeal as Eric leaps after her and catches her. It didn't look like she was trying real hard to get away though. Four thought about what he had seen last night and was sure that if she didn't want to be ensconced in Eric's arms, she wouldn't be.

"Did you know it stained? You little bitch! You knew it stained! I'm purple up to my elbows, woman! What sort of fearless leader is fucking purple?" Four was having a hard time trying not to laugh. Eric looked like he was trying very hard to give Kella his most intimidating stare, but he was failing miserably. And Kella just thought that it was fucking hilarious.

Eric must've given up on the intimidation tactic, because the look he was giving the laughing woman in his arms changed. He was staring at her like a drowning man stares at a raft, like a starving man stares at a feast, like she was the most important thing in the world. She cupped his face in her hands as he looked at her with complete and utter adoration, and the hair on Four's arms stood on end; he'd never seen anyone fall in love in front of his eyes before.

He could've strangled Max when he cleared his throat, indicating to Eric and Kella that they weren't alone. Eric looked up, his arms still wrapped around Kella like vines, his eyes still clouded with emotion.

"That's not good for her ribs Eric, put my patient down right now!"

Eric glared balefully at the medic, growling under his breath, while Kella continued to ignore everyone except Eric.

"Eric! Put that girl down" Max's tone brooked no argument and Eric slowly disentangled himself from Kella. Once he no longer had ahold of her, he seemed to come back to somewhat normal. His ice cold eyes lost the warmth they'd had when they where lost in the little white haired woman.

"Right! We're gonna get us some answers here now, so you best be sittin down little miss. Eric, you too. Sit... explain." Max definitely had his cranky pants on this morning. But then again, if it'd been Four's job to explain why two Dauntless leaders, and a Dauntless security officer, broke into Erudite and **stole** a person, he'd probably be cranky too. Four could well imagine what dealing with Marcus Eaton had been like this morning.

Kella sits on the lounge and looks at Max expectantly, while Smiley starts strapping her ribs. Eric sits beside her and says "Explain what Max. You where there, you saw what happened. We gained access to Kella's cell, broke her out, and made a run for it. We took down a shit load of Erudite security on the way out, but they're Erudite, for Christ's sake, they're fucking useless."

"Stop deflecting and fucking explain! How the hell did she disable that many guards at once? What where the devices she used to do it? Where did that tech come from? How the hell did she move the way she did with the injuries she had? How is she healing so fucking fast? What is she?" Max's last question was a whisper as he glanced in Kella's direction, fear and worry written on his face.

"Christ Max! Breath man. The tech looks simple enough. It's basically a universal remote control and a music storage device. Looks like she can program it to hack just about anything, including Erudite's PA system. It's the way she used it that was genius. She didn't kill anyone, Max, go eat some Amity bread and chill, man."

"So she's got Erudite level intelligence then" Both Four and Eric took a breath at Max's insinuation. That was heading into dangerous territory.

"She's battle tested, Max. She's conditioned to use all the tools at her disposal. She's trained to survive" Eric's straight denial of Kella's obvious intelligence grated on Four, but it was the right thing to say. If people started on that line of questioning, Kella was going to get attention she really didn't need. Four wondered if Eric was just lying to Max, or if he was lying to himself as well.

Max grunted at Eric's assessment. "How did she move the way she did with the injuries she had?" He repeated

"Conditioning Max. The same way she survived the torture without going mad. She's seen war. Not just the pissy little fights we have with the factionless, actual war. She's made of stronger stuff than your average Dauntless."

"The healing..."

"I'm not sure. Could be people on the outside are stronger and heal faster as an evolutionary quirk. It's gotta be rough out there, and she's a soldier. It makes sense that she would be the best of the best"

Four had watched Max's eyes glaze over as soon as Eric mentioned evolution. It was above his pay grade, and he obviously knew it. Dauntless where not known for their academic ability.

"How do you know all this when she won't talk to you"

Eric points to himself "Ex-Erudite. You said it yourself, I probably have the highest IQ in this faction."

Smiley had finished with Kella's wounds and ribs by this stage, and she'd waved him off when he'd tried to do more. She'd got up and was wandering around the apartment, unpacking her bags by the looks of it. Max turned toward her

"I have questions for you too, little miss. I'd appreciate some answers " Kella smiled sweetly and nodded her consent. "Where do you come from?" She shakes her head and Max snarls "You need to answer these questions Kella! There's only so long I can be kept in the dark. I need to know if you're a threat to my faction and my city..." he is cut off by Eric growling a warning.

"Stop there Max, she'll talk about that stuff when she's ready. If she wanted to do damage, I doubt you, me, or anyone else could actually stop her"

Kella ignored them as they bickered at each other and wandered over to Eric's stereo. Both mens voices where cut off by the sound of a piano tinkling, drums, and then guitars. Kella started lip synching along, * _Woke up this morning from the strangest dream. I was in the biggest army the world had ever seen. We where marching as one, on the road to the holy grail._ * The song sang of an epic crusade for a holy relic. It was a good song, but the hair stood up on Four's arms when Kella mimed * _We where full of beans, but we where dying like flies. And those big black birds, they where circling in the skies. And you know what they say, yeah, nobody deserves to die._ * Kella's eyes where closed until she opened them to look at Max * _I've been high and I've been low, but I've got nowhere else to go._ * She walked over to Eric during the instrumental and then 'sang' to him * _If I'd followed orders, God knows where I'd be. But I woke up alone, all my wounds where clean. I'm still here. I'm still a fool for the holy grail_.*

All four men stood in silence as Kella turned the music down and wandered into the kitchen and out of sight.

Eric is the first to recover "Well, that's a new one. Communication via music. I could get used to that. It's much better than a smack up the back of the head. Do you see why we've gotta give her the time though Max? Maybe if we'd managed to keep her here, instead of letting Erudite torture her for months, she'd be talking by now" Eric's internal self flagellation is written all over his face as he stares Max down.

Max sighs "Alright, alright. I get it. It's like dealing with you. Doesn't matter what I say, you'll do whatever you want to do anyway, and no one is game enough to stop you. We'll do this your way... But... there's got to be some ground rules Eric." Max's voice drops to not much more than a whisper "You can't start a relationship with this woman. She's not one of us yet, and you're going to be one of her instructors. It's not right and it's not professional." Eric was beginning to snarl under his breath again "Now cut the crap Eric, you know I'm right. Do you want the whole faction screaming favouritism?"

Max's question stops Eric in his tracks. She was going to cop enough crap because she was from outside the fence, trust was going to be an issue for the rest of the faction.

oOoOo

It was three days after the incident in Eric's apartment, and Four was back on night shift. It was hard to keep his mind from wandering back to Dauntless' guest while staring at the rotating security feed in the control room. He hadn't seen the little woman directly, but he'd watched the screens as Eric started her "physical training". It was more of an assessment, from what Four could see, because there was very little that Eric could teach her. It'd made his shifts more interesting, at least. It was 2am now and dead boring. Zeke was pumping out z's from his console, and Four was about ready to join him when he was startled awake. A cascade of silver white hair was skipping across a bridge over the chasm. "What the fuck..."

Four chased her with the camera's, following her from the pit down to the mechanics workshop. She walked straight in like she owned the place and Four jumped up from his chair.

"Zeke, man. Wake up!" Zeke snuffled and snorted as Four shook him awake.

"Shit, Four, fuck. I'm up man, I'm up" Zeke was bleary eyed, but coherent.

"I need you to cover for me, I gotta go check the workshop out. You got the rest of shift man?" Zeke nods as he stretches himself into alertness. Four thanks him before he bolts out the door toward whatever trouble the girl has got him into this time.

oOoOo

She'd put her hair back into a neat braid by the time Four made it down to the workshop. He got there just in time to see her disappear underneath a patrol vehicle on a dolly. He grabbed ahold of her ankle and dragged her straight back out.

"What the hell do you think you're doing here Kella?" She blinks at him and turns her head questioningly like a puppy. "Don't give me that innocent little girl shit! Does Eric know you're down here?" She grins, shakes her head, and puts her finger to her lips

"Shhhhh"

It was the closest she'd come to actually talking to Four, and he was left a little stunned. She used that to her advantage as she broke free of his grip and scooted herself back under the huge vehicle.

"Oi! You leave Little Blondie alone. She's got plenty of work to do tonight" A huge, dark haired, grease covered mechanic spoke like Four was an annoying little kid "Don't you go distracting her now, I need that truck running right by dawn" The mechanics name tag read 'Vincent'

"Wait. Back up a minute. What the hell is going on here?" A very bewildered Four was back pedaling like crazy, trying to calm the situation, and work out what was going on.

"You know her?" Vincent's curiosity seems to be piqued.

"As well as anyone does" is Four's cryptic reply.

"The little blonde girly. I don't know who she belongs to, but she's a hell of a mechanic. Shows up three nights ago and starts pulling shit apart. I would've stopped her, but it was an old junker she was working on. That and she's just so damn cute when she's covered in grease and crap." Vincent's smile is smitten. "Well, this old junker that we'd all said was unfixable, little girl fixed it. Then she gave it a tune. Now it pulls like a teenage boy and runs on the smell of an oily rag." Vincent puffed his chest out with pride "Now she's fixing whatever I give her, and she's doing it four times as fast as I can. We might actually have a chance at keeping up with demand for the first time ever."

"She talks to you?" Four asked hopefully.

"Nah, she writes on the whiteboard if she wants us to know something, but she's pretty self sufficient"

Four looks over to the whiteboard the mechanic had indicated toward, and isn't surprised to see Kella's handwriting. It was mostly mechanical nonsense that Four didn't comprehend, but there was also little comments like ' _Bite me, Vince, told you I could fix it_ ', ' _Don't touch my parts pile, asshole!_ ', and ' _Let's play a game! It's called hide and go fuck yourself.._.'

Four shakes his head as he sits to wait for her to finish the vehicle. She doesn't take long. She motions to him when they're done. He follows her to the whiteboard, where she writes _'Get in loser, we're going shopping...'_

oOoOo

oOoOo

oOoOo

 _The song is called "Holy Grail" and it's by -Hunters and Collectors_


	12. Eleven

_So, getting back into my writing schedule... until the next disaster hits anyway. Who wants to take bets on if it's fish related of child related?_

 _Hoping to get another chapter up over the weekend. No promises though._

 _I don't own Divergent or any of it's associated characters, just her naughtiness, Miss Kella._

 _Unbetta'd as usual_.

Eleven

Eric wouldn't admit it in public, but he panicked the morning after Max's 'intervention' when he woke up without Kella wrapped in his arms. They'd gone to sleep in the same bed after Kella had signed * _stay_ * at him with her big, innocent eyes; but he'd woken alone in his bed. He was bolt upright and out of bed before he'd really thought about it, and he was in the kitchen before he was even properly awake. He needn't have worried. She was standing before the stove in a long, black t-shirt with a piece of bacon in her mouth as she cooked eggs in the pan. Her hair was left loose today, but still damp from the shower. She looked up and smiled at him when he cleared his throat.

"So, you managed your hair alright then?" She nodded happily as she pointed to the toast popping out of the toaster. Eric helped with the rest of the meal, and they sat and ate in companionable silence again. It wasn't until after they'd washed up the few dishes together that Eric brought up their itinerary for the day.

"We're starting out in the office today. I'll be doing paperwork, you'll be reading up on faction history. After lunch we'll move onto some physical training. Just some light stuff until you're fully healed, though. We don't want you injured going into initiation." Kella grabbed a pen and notepad off the bench and began to write. Eric looked at her curiously. Up until now, every communication between them since she'd written her name had been physical. Sign language, facial expressions, touch, movement. Eric enjoyed the way they conversed, it felt natural and comfortable.

He moved behind her and stood with his chin on her shoulder, both hands resting on the bench in front of her, caging her in, while he read what she'd written. * _You can't put me through a physical initiation against eighteen year old children. It's not fair, I'll eat them alive._ *

Eric snorted into Kella's neck. She was a cocky little thing. "Initiation's not just physical, there's a huge mental component too. You might find that you struggle more than the others with that part of it. What, with what you must've seen and done outside the city. You might find that levels the playing field a bit. There's a huge difference between normal teenage fears like giving a speech nude, or spiders, and the atrocities of war"

It was Kella's turn to snort * _The atrocities of war are one thing. You have clear rules on how to act, how to feel. You follow orders, do as you are told. It's when the war is over that the real shit storm starts. And what I've seen doesn't change the fact that I've been training to fight for more years than I care to remember. I am not child friendly!_ *

"It'll be fine. I'll be assessing you before initiation starts, and they're adults. Everything will be ok." Eric breathed the last sentence into the shell of her ear and she shuddered against him and pressed her body back. He was really pushing his luck here. He was definitely aware by now that this... thing... between them ran both ways. Max had called it a relationship, but that was far from what it was. Eric had never had a relationship, but he was sure it was nothing like the burning need that ran through him when Kella twisted to face him, clear want written all over her face. What he wouldn't give to be able to give in to that burning need. But there where many reasons why this was a bad idea.

He stepped back and shook the feeling off. Kella blinked at him, wiping the desire from her face, and smirked. Eric was sure she was aware of his internal battle, but it seemed she wasn't going to help him at all. While she wasn't throwing herself against him, she definitely wasn't keeping any distance between them. He wasn't helping himself either. He couldn't seem to resist the urge to be close to her.

She turned to the paper and wrote something before flouncing off toward his bedroom. He looked at the notepad.

 _Chicken..._ *

oOoOo

Eric dropped his head onto his desk and groaned. He was never going to get any work done with this nutcase in his office. He knew what the problem was, she was bored shitless. He'd given her two long ass text books on faction history to read, thinking that they would keep her busy for at least today. She was done in two hours.

He didn't believe that she'd actually read them, so he sat her down with a copy of the faction history exam paper from finals. She finished a three hour examination in an hour.

He gave her a book on Dauntless history to read while he marked her exam. To his consternation, he could not find one incorrect answer. By the time he was finished marking it, she was finished her book and looking at him expectantly. It was only 11:30.

He struggled on for another half hour, desperately trying to get some work done while Kella built tiny siege engines out of office supplies. He'd finally given up when the third paperclip javelin had hit him in the cheek and drawn blood.

He turned off the security cameras and microphones in his office, Four having already removed the ones Jeannine had planted. When he was sure they wouldn't be overheard, he addressed the amazingly annoying woman in front of him.

"You need to stop being so obviously clever." Kella cocked her head at him like a confused dog. Eric stood and leaned across his desk, his face close to Kella's. "I've been through the files we stole from Erudite. I know that they put you through a lot of aptitude tests, and I know that you tested strongly for Dauntless in every one. But soaking up information like you just did is not a Dauntless trait." Eric was hissing at her now, fear making him harsh "You manipulated the test, didn't you?" Kella was giving him her best innocent doe eyes along with a 'Who? Me?' expression that deserved an award it was so believable. But Eric knew better. He was getting the measure of her now. She used her small stature and fine features as a defence mechanism. That shit wouldn't work with him. Jeannine had made sure he'd been properly trained in Candor before he transfered to Dauntless.

"Don't even fucking try to lie to me Kella" Eric's voice was dangerously low as he growled a warning. Kella's blank faced non reply was enough to send him over the edge. He jumped over the desk and grabbed the small woman by the hair at the back of her head before she could back away. His other hand went to the side of her head and cupped her jaw firmly, bringing her face so close to his that they where sharing the same air. He knew that he'd left his whole body open to attack by having both hands up to her face, but he really didn't care. He needed to make sure she was paying attention.

"You can't lie to me, Kella! I can't protect you if you lie to me. So no lies between us, ever. I can deal with you not telling me about whatever went on outside the fence, but in this city, you don't lie to me." Eric's voice took on a slightly softer tone. "I know what you must've found about me in Erudite's files, but you need to trust me. Jeannine signed off on the end of any loyalty I ever had toward her or Erudite the day she took you from me. I don't give a shit what your real fucking aptitude results are. You belong here, in Dauntless... with me..." Eric breathed in her scent before he continued "So you need to stop looking like the fucking genius that you are and start looking like a meat head, adrenalin junkie. Ask Four for lessons if you're having trouble, he's good at putting on the act." Throughout Eric's tirade, Kella's hands had moved up his body. They'd started at his hips and slowly worked their way up his abs, across his chest, up his neck and behind his head; where they where now buried in his hair. So much for leaving his body open to attack, she must've known that he was never going to hurt her.

Eric took a deep breath and fought to keep his voice level and low "So. Did you manipulate the aptitude test?" At Kella's small nod he tightened his grip in her hair and pressed his forehead against hers, his face scrunched up in pain. "Do you know your actual result?" She nods again. "How many?" She presses her fingers into the back of his neck one at a time; one, two, and three. Kella tries to rub the tension out of his neck and shoulders as he lets out a string of profanities that would make a sailor blush. She shushes him softly as he takes a few deep breaths and tries to think clearly. He pulls his head back to look at her properly.

"Dauntless?" She smiles softly at him and he knows that there is more Dauntless in her than anything else. "Erudite for sure. Your mind is a thing of beauty" She blushes prettily at his compliment. "Not fucking Candor, that's for sure" Kella laughs and shakes her head. "Abnegation?" She shakes her head again and Eric laughs this time "Ha! Amity! You fucking tree hugger!" That earned him a smack up the back of the head and he laughed again. "Hippy flower child" smack "Free spirit freak" smack "Bohemian" slap "Fucking Gypsy woo-hoo" the last one copped him a flick to the ear that stung like a bitch.

Eric laughed and moved his hands down to her waist, wrapping his arms around her and holding her flush against himself while he buried his head in her neck. He breathed her scent deep "We need to be careful. If Jeannine finds out, you're fucked. You need to act Dauntless, and nothing else. No Erudite curiosity, no Amity love and peace bullshit. You understand me?" He feels Kella nod against him. "We have to stop doing this as well. We can't be caught in this position again" Kella snorts at him "I mean it, Kell. I'm going to be one of your instructors. The whole faction will be screaming favouritism." She snorts again, louder. "I know you know I would never do that, I would never even have to, you're going to be a force to be reckoned with. But I'm not particularly well liked in this faction. People think I got my rank because of Jeannine, even though I earned it on my own. I won't have them think the same of you."

Eric pulls his head back to look at her, she smiles at him as she moves her hands to hold his face. Her whole persona was radiating calm acceptance. Eric took a deep breath. "Alright, enough with the heavy. Let's go grab some lunch. Then we can head to the training room and you can smack me around a bit." Kella's cheeky grin told him that she was going to do just that.

oOoOo

The days moved on in the same pattern. Wake up to find Kella cooking in the kitchen. Eat together before getting ready to head to the office together. Kella pretends to be learning about faction history while secretly helping Eric with his paperwork. Eat lunch together back at the apartment. Train and spar, Eric getting his ass handed to him more than he'd like to admit. Then Eric would grab dinner from the dining hall while she showered and they would eat together in Eric's apartment. They avoided having her out in public as much as possible, trying not to feed the rumours that where circulating through the compound. Kella would put some music on after dinner. She showed him some of her favourites and she taught Eric how to dance. She taught him The Time Warp, The Nutbush and The Macarena. She also taught him the Viennese Waltz. He was surprised at how much he enjoyed it, letting loose without the faction watching. Kella was the first person he'd ever felt he could relax around. They fell asleep each night wrapped around each other, and Eric was content.

But he stressed too. Whenever they where in view of the cameras, he was stretched as taut as a bowstring. He knew that Four wouldn't turn her in, he was sure that Four was almost as loyal to the little blonde from outside the fence as he was. But Four wasn't the only one who worked in the control room, and he knew he had enemies in there. Someone had tattled on him for turning off the surveillance in his office. He'd copped a lecture about fraternisation for that. Eric was just glad that Max didn't suspect the truth.

oOoOo

When he woke up on the fifth morning since Kella's rescue, he knew something was wrong. He laid there for a moment trying to work out what it was. Kella wasn't in bed with him and her side was cold, but that was normal. The shower wasn't running, but he didn't always wake up early enough to hear her in there. He took a deep breath and it hit him... no bacon. He couldn't smell her cooking.

He bolted out of bed and into the kitchen, it was spotless, exactly as they had left it last night. He ran back through the lounge, through his bedroom and into his ènsuit bathroom. It was empty, however, Kella's nightshirt was lying on top of the hamper. She'd gotten dressed and gone somewhere. Where the hell would she go?

He ran back through his bedroom shouting obscenities, grabbing some clothes on his way, putting them on while he was still moving. He cursed the fact that he had to stop to put his boots on. He was just reaching for the door when it opened. He stepped back in surprise as he took in the vision before him. Kella was standing in the doorway smiling at him. She was dressed in Dauntless black and red, but her hair was half out, half braided. She had flowers braided in through her long tresses and brightly coloured glass beads around her neck. Her lips where stained bright red in the middle, like she'd been eating red berries, and her arms where full of bags.

He grabbed ahold of her elbow and dragged her inside before he noticed that Four was standing behind her. His hands where full of bags as well, but he looked like he was about to drop them and run.

"Inside idiot!" Eric's voice was so deep and menacing that it almost scared himself. Four put his head down and walked into the apartment. Eric slammed the door and dragged Kella to the lounge and sat her down. He pointed to the seat next to her and Four obediently sat down. Eric breathed deeply and counted to ten... then he counted to fifty. When he finally felt that he could speak without hitting something, he spoke. "Explain" was all he could get out.

Kella was pouting up at him. She'd put her bags down before she sat, and she looked at them forlornly before she signed at him. * _I was bored_ *

Eric exploded "Oh, you where bored? YOU WHERE BORED?" He turned to Four "She was bored. That explains everything." He turned back to Kella's downcast face "That explains why you where in FUCKING AMITY! Of all places! You've just signed your own fucking death warrant, Kell! I can't hide this shit from Jeannine! Do you think normal Dauntless run around with fucking FLOWERS in their hair? You know she's still patched into Dauntless and city security!" Eric was taking a breath when Four spoke up for the first time.

"She wouldn't have seen us. We avoided every camera. The only cameras she's shown up on all night are the ones on the way down to the workshop, and they'd all testify on their lives that she was there all night."

"You've been down to the workshop? They know you down there?" Kella nodded "How? Why? How?"

"She's been going down there every night, fixing the patrol vehicles that they can't fix. She's a really good mechanic, and they love her down there" Eric's snarl shut Four up.

"And why the hell where you down there, dipshit?"

"I was on night shift. I saw her on the feed and I followed her" It was just as Eric had suspected, Kella had lead and Four had followed. It suited both their personalities down to a tee. He took a deep breath and pushed his fear down. If Four said they weren't on camera, he believed him. He'd tried to follow Four in the feed enough times to know that the man was a ghost. He sat on the coffee table in front of the pair of them and tried again.

"Explain. All of it. Now."


	13. Twelve

_Argh, this is taking me too long. I have this whole story in my head, but life keeps getting in between me and writing it all down_ :-(

 _Thank you very much for the lovely comments and feedback, they're like fuel that I can burn to stay awake late at night writing_ ;-)

 _She will talk, I promise. That chapter was the fifth chapter I wrote, but there's a bit that needs to happen between now and then._

 _Candor or Dauntless wasn't something I had planned, but now the chapter is half written in my head already, so it's gonna happen :-D_

Twelve

"Explain. All of it. Now." Four quickly tried to gather his thoughts into chronological order.

"Well, I saw Kella heading down to the workshop, so I got Zeke to cover for me while I went to see what she was up to." Four looked at Eric uncertainly and tried to read his expression. It was an impossible task, the man was a stone.

"Continue" Is Eric's only commentary, so he does just that.

"I confronted her, but she blew me off. You know the head mechanic? What's his name?" Four looked at Eric questioningly.

"Big Vince. Built like a tank, dark hair, perpetual scowl. Scary barstard, that one"

"That's the one. He told me to back off of her, told me she'd spent the last three nights fixing trucks that couldn't be fixed. She's got him wrapped around her little finger. He lets her get away with anything she wants, including taking the vehicles she's fixed out for "test drives", which is code for joy rides. So she told me to get in this truck she fixed, said we where going shopping."

"Said?"

"Um, no, wrote on a whiteboard. Sorry."

Eric's face remained impassive "And let me guess. Instead of coming to find me, you just did what she told you to do. You hopped in the car like a good little puppy dog and let her lead you up the path to fucking Amity." Four hung his head at that "I thought so. Good thing you dropped out of leader training, you're obviously not leader material." The words stung, but he guessed they where probably fair. Not only had he let Kella lead him astray, but now he was snitching on her. Eric was still looking through him. "Continue"

"So I got in the truck, and she drove us out to Amity. She drives really well. She took that thing over some crazy terrain, but we bypassed every single camera from here to Amity. Turns out she'd been out there before, cause Johanna knows her. Knows she doesn't talk too, Johanna signs quite well. She traded some flash drives and random parts for some food, art supplies, alcohol and other random crap."

"What was on the flash drives?" Eric asked urgently

"Some advancements in farming tech that Erudite's been holding back, along with simplified instructions on how to use it." Four saw the pride on Eric's face as he looked at Kella, the same pride Four had felt when Johanna had told him what was on the drives. Erudite had more than provoked her, she had every right to destroy them from the inside out. But she was doing good for the rest of the city while she did it. It was genius.

"And you're absolutely sure that you guys where not caught on camera anywhere?" Eric was using his penetrating stare again

"Absolutely positive." Four was sure. The route she'd taken had left him wondering if they where gonna make it through at times, but he knew they'd missed every single camera. "We got from the workshop to here without anyone seeing as well. And they're used to her down there, she brought them a few jars of Amity whiskey back, they're not saying anything."

"Fair enough" Eric's easy acceptance of Four's statement was unsurprising. There was very little that any Dauntless wouldn't do for a jar of Amity whisky.

Eric turns his attention toward Kella now "Why didn't you tell me?" She signs something at him and he explodes again "You didn't want to worry me! Fucking hell Kell! Do you have any idea how worried I was when I woke up and you weren't here? I woke up and there was no Kella, no note, no fucking sign of where you might have gone. Your pj's where in the bathroom, so I knew you left under your own steam, but that was it! And what if you'd been later than you where? I was on my way out the door to find this asshole" he gestures toward Four "and I wouldn't have found him, would I?"

Kella looks straight into Eric's eyes as she gets up off the lounge and wraps herself around him. He lowers his head and buries it in the crook of her neck like Four had seen him do the night they had brought her in. She's rubbing her hands up and down his back in a soothing way and Eric sighs into her. Four feels like he's witnessing something he shouldn't be, but he can't take his eyes off the pair of them. Eric has always been like a caged lion, snapping and snarling at anyone who dares cross his path. He was about as dangerous as one too, and everyone knew it. Except Kella Esarosa. She treated him like a close and treasured friend, and he in turn acted like one.

It was having an effect on how he and Four interacted as well. The animosity between them had turned into almost a camaraderie, for the most part anyway. This was the first time they'd had words since they had rescued Kella, and Four knew that Eric was lashing out from fear, not anger.

But the thing that blew Four's mind most of all, was the way Eric and Kella communicated. They barely even used sign language most of the time, it was all facial expressions, loaded glances, posture and touch. Especially touch. Four wondered if they even noticed that they where always touching in some form or another. They walked the hallways with Eric's hand in the small of Kella's back. Eric stood around the office talking to Harmony with Kella's hand on his bicep. They touched each others hips and shoulders while training and sparing, making minor adjustments to each others stance.

Eric was whispering in Kella's ear now, too low for Four to hear. Kella nodded against him and kissed his temple before untangling herself and bouncing toward her 'shopping', taking the coldstuffs out and heading toward the kitchen. Four glanced at Eric and wished he hadn't. The saying 'if looks could kill' had never been more appropriate.

"I'm sorry. I know I should've come and got you. I was just so worried that if I left her, she'd take off without me..."

"I get it, it's fine" Eric's expression changed to one of, if not defeat, at least quiet acceptance "I know how she is, impulsive could be her middle name. Thank you for going with her, and for not getting Max involved. He still doesn't get the fact that she can't be stopped. That she probably shouldn't be stopped, if last night is anything to go off of. She's an absolute force of nature, that woman"

"It's not a problem." They can hear banging in the kitchen, and the smell of bacon wafts out. The homey smell seems to relax both men. Four figures that, if he wants answers from Eric, now is as good of a time as any. "So, Eric, can I ask you something?" Four takes his grunt as an affirmation "What happened with you and Jeannine? When you first transfered, you where tight with Erudite still. Now, it seems like you just as soon put a bullet in her head than be anywhere near her." Four wonders if he's gone to far when he took in Eric's scowl, but relaxes a moment later when Eric starts talking.

"Jeannine thinks she planted me here, she'd been waiting for someone like me to come along for years. I would've chosen Dauntless anyway, and gone for leadership, but she thinks it was all her idea. I went along with it because I much preferred pretending to be her lackey to being experimented on for the rest of my short life in an Erudite lab."

Four's jaw dropped. This didn't make any sense at all. He'd heard rumours of Jeannine's experiments, but it didn't make sense to include Eric in any of those. Jeannine only experimented on a certain type of person.

Eric was smirking at him when he felt Kella's hand glide down his cheek and close his mouth for him. He hadn't realised that she was standing behind him. She reached her other hand over him and laid a plate of bacon, eggs and toast on his lap. She disappeared for a moment and came back with two more plates. She handed one plate to Eric, and he thanked her sweetly. She sat with her plate and motioned for Eric to continue his story.

"So, I was thirteen years old when my divergence was discovered" Eric speaks around a mouthful of bacon. Four is glad he hadn't started eating yet, he would've just choked to death.

"Fucking what now?" Four doesn't have a hope of trying to hide his surprise. Eric and Kella are devouring their food, neither one perturbed at all by the mention of the forbidden word. Kella looks as serene as she usually does, and Eric is wearing his normal 'focused' expression. But they where glancing at each other, communicating wordlessly as they ate. They must've reached an agreement, because Eric swallowed the last of his meal and spoke again.

"We take the aptitude test early in Erudite, it's a part of a big 'right of passage' thing you do the year you turn thirteen. Haven't you ever noticed that there are a shit load less Erudite born divergents? Jeannine would have you believe that it's because Erudite is the 'master faction', but it's really because we're weeded out early. We generally don't survive long enough to take the official aptitude test. The ones with Amity, Candor and Abnegation tendencies don't anyway, because Jeannine has no use for them. Most of the time the Erudite/Dauntless divergents are a lot more Dauntless than Erudite, and Jeannine doesn't have a use for them either. I'm 60% Dauntless, 40% Erudite, so I was exactly what she was looking for." Eric says all of this with his head down, looking at the floor. His voice is a monotone, like he's retelling someone else's story, not recounting what he had been through himself. Four sat with rapt attention, his meal forgotten.

"The tests Jeannine does to find out your exact percentages are... unpleasant... to say the least. She was working on a scanner when I left, it might even be near operational now. All that's going to do though is make it easier for her to identify the divergents that she wants to experiment on, and the rest will be disposed of. Having lived in one of Jeannine's labs as a subject for three years, I'd rather be dead." Eric said the last with such conviction that Four had no trouble believing him. He'd seen how Kella had been treated in the Erudite 'hospital', he would rather be dead too.

"So, when Jeannine gave me the opportunity to act as her spy and supporter in Dauntless, I jumped at it. I would've done anything to get out of the hole she'd put me in. I spent two years training, which was nearly as bad as the lab, honestly. She put me through weapons training, Candor training, constant fucking fear simulations and fear landscape training. She trained me in anything she thought a Dauntless Leader should know, plus some. I played her game right up until I was promoted. Then I stopped playing it her way and started playing my way. Things have been strained between us ever since, but she really fucked the whole show when she took Kella."

Four was dumbstruck. He looked over at Kella, expecting to see her usual calm self. Instead he saw that she had paled at Eric's description of his teen years, her jaw clenched tight with anger. Both of her hands where in tight fists on her knees and her eyes had lost their usual clear blue, gaining a violet tint. Looking into her rage filled eyes, he understood why she made people like Max nervous, and people like Jeannine scared. She looked like the embodiment of the winds of change.

"Is any of this going to come up in the enquiry they're having about Kella's imprisonment? If enough of this shit gets brought to light, that psycho bitch might actually get brought down."

"No. One day it'll be her turn, but not yet. Even with all the information we stole from Erudite, we haven't got enough evidence. Not to mention the fact that we still have to go through and catalogue all those files. When she gets put down, she's going to have to be put down hard, or she'll just get back up and start again." Eric's head was in his hands now, he looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. When he looked up, the pain and violence in his eyes is raw and so very real. Four shudders. This is the first time he's ever seen Eric without his mask of contempt in place, and it's beyond terrifying. Kella shifted beside him and put her hand on his knee in a calming gesture, but it seemed to do very little to calm the fire that burned in both their eyes.

oOoOo

Four sat in the back of the Candor courthouse with his head in his hands. Eric had warned him, but he still couldn't believe what he'd witnessed in that room. Jeannine had been given a slap on the wrist and been ordered to pay a paltry reparation to Kella once she has passed initiation. It was the biggest load of horse shit that Four had ever had the misfortune to be involved in. Eric was right, they where going to have to work a hell of a lot harder if they ever wanted to put that slimy bitch away for good...


	14. Thirteen

_Another chapter, Yay!_

 _I have definitely always thought that Eric was Divergent, it's one of my most deeply held head cannons from any Fandom._

 _I don't own Divergent or anything you recognise._

 _Unbetta'd_

Thirteen

Their days found a new rhythm after the 'Amity upset'. Eric discovered that Kella only needed a couple of hours sleep a night, or eight or so hours sleep every four-ish days to function. So rather than try and stay awake when he obviously needed more sleep than her, he enlisted Four's help. He told Max to take Four out of the roster for the control room, and they took shifts keeping an eye on her. Eric took four days on day shift, taking Kella into the office in the morning and training with her in the afternoon, while Four took three nights. On the fourth night, Kella slept wrapped in Eric's arms all night.

For the next three nights, Eric went wherever Kella felt the urge to go. He did paperwork in the workshop while she fixed whatever the mechanics couldn't. She took him out to Amity and he drank whiskey with Johanna while Kella's Amity friends braided winter roses through her hair. They explored the city, running and jumping from rooftop to rooftop, something Kella called 'parkour' and Eric called 'running like the hounds of hell where after you'. They broke into Erudite several times, gathering intel and pranking them with annoying but harmless computer viruses. Kella taught him more dances, his favourite was one called a 'Tango'. They stood on the fence together and looked out over the edge of Eric's known world. And on the fourth night, after he had slept most of the day, Eric cocooned her sleeping form and spent most of the night watching her. And the cycle would begin again.

Eric much preferred night shift to the day. Sure, he got to spar with her on day shift, and he always enjoyed that. But on night shift, he got to see her exactly the way she was. There was no pretending for the rest of the faction, they where both free to be whoever they wanted to be. Running through the city with her, Eric felt true freedom for the first time in his life. He could be brave and clever at the same time, and no one was going to find his body in the chasm as a result.

And so their strange little routine continued, right up until the night before the choosing ceremony. It had been decided that Kella would go and do the aptitude test with the rest of the eighteen year olds to keep up appearances. She had gotten a perfect Dauntless result, as had been expected. It was also decided that the shifts would end before initiation started, as Four would be too busy with the transfers anyway.

So tonight was the last night she would be sharing Eric's apartment, tomorrow night she should be sleeping in the Dauntless born's dorm. Eric held her tight all night and watched her sleep, praying to a deity that he didn't believe in that nothing would go wrong tomorrow.

oOoOo

Eric stands at the back of the seated Dauntless in the Hub, Kella by his side. His hand is rubbing small circles in the small of her back. He tells himself that it's to keep her calm in the huge crowd of people, but it's really for his own self assurance. On the outside, he looks like his usual stone faced self. On the inside, he was roiling in turmoil. It wasn't that he was worried Kella would choose another faction, he was absolutely sure that she would pick Dauntless, it was just that the option was there, and so was Jeannine. He didn't trust that Jeannine couldn't find a way to fuck this up and take Kella away from him again.

They waited through everyone getting seated and settled and through the same boring speeches that he had heard last year, Eric's hand never leaving the small of Kella's back as she stood close to him. When Jeannine started calling names out, starting with Xavier, Liam, he pulled her closer to him. He snaked his arm down around her hip and gripped her hard enough to leave marks, holding her flush against his side. His other hand was balled into a fist in his pocket as he waited for Jeannine to get down to the E's.

When she finally read out "Esarosa, Kella", she said it with a dark, menacing tone that made the hair stand up on the back of Eric's neck. The name stood out, Kella was the only Esarosa in the city, and the whole population of the hub turned toward the pair standing at the back of Dauntless. Eric leaned down and whispered in her ear "The coals. Make sure it's the coals" before squeezing her and then loosening his hold on her hip. She turns to him and smiles reassuringly, but it doesn't stop the loud thumping in his chest.

She wanders down the stairs, an air of calm surrounding her. Eric watches her smile toward a little Abnegation girl as she passes by them, making her way to the five bowls at the front of the room. She takes the offered blade, hefting it in her hand to check the balance, before slicing her palm deeply. If it wasn't for her advanced healing factor, Eric would be worried. But, as it sits, he knows that she'll be right as rain by morning. Every eye in the room is on her as she thrusts her hand over the burning coals without any hesitation whatsoever. Eric breaths a deep sigh of relief as Dauntless explodes into cheers and whistles. As much as they had tried to keep her off the faction's radar, her reputation had spread. People had somehow seen her sparing with Eric, and the whispers had started. Anyone who could put Eric on his arse before initiation had even commenced was more than welcome in Dauntless.

Jeannine puts her hand out to take the knife back and instead of handing it over, Kella takes a step back. She brings the knife up to her lips and licks the blood off of both sides. She then twists it around her hand, slipping it into one of the many side pockets in her cargos. The look on Jeannine's face is absolutely priceless, and the whole Dauntless faction whoops, hollers and laughs at once. Kella heads back toward Dauntless, grabbing a dressing on her way past. She sits with the rest of this year's crop of initiates and Jeannine battles to read the rest of the names loud enough to be heard over Dauntless' excited chatter.

So much for keeping a low profile.

oOoOo

Eric was the first one out the door after the ceremony. It felt wrong running without Kella at his side, but he needed to be in the first carriage of the train so he could be there waiting for the initiates when they jumped off. He was about halfway up the scaffolding when he saw her land on the platform above him, the smart arse had taken a different route and beaten him. He hurried up the rest of the way, taking Kella's offered hand when he reached the top.

"Aren't you supposed to be hanging out with a new crowd now?" He teases her. She snorts at him and signs * _too slow_ *.

"You're going to have to get used to them, you know. I know it's frustraighting, but Four and I told you, you have to try and blend in just a little bit. The that stunt you pulled back at the hub, steeling the knife and licking it, that was not blending in." Eric tries not to smile at her chortling laugh and fails miserably. It was fucking hilarious, and ridiculously Dauntless, and he can't help but chuckle at the memory of Jeannine's face. Kella pokes her tongue out at Eric before she starts jogging along the track for the approaching train. Eric doesn't even spare a glance for the rest of the initiates, who where just reaching the top of the platform. They'll either make it, or they won't. The only one that concerned him was the one in front of him, jumping onto the first carriage of the train.

oOoOo

They where the only two in the first carriage, so Eric sat with Kella in his lap and whispered lectures in her ear on proper Dauntless initiate behaviour. This was not the first lecture he'd given her on the subject, and he was pretty sure it wouldn't be the last. The irony of lecturing her on that particular subject while she was sitting in his lap, and he was rubbing his hand up and down her hip was not lost on him. He chose to ignore it though, because this was probably his last opportunity to touch the woman for months. Eric realised that she probably knew this too, as it would explain why she was curled into him so tightly, her hands gripping the lapels of his jacket like a life preserver.

All too soon their stop was coming up and they had to untangle themselves and prepare to jump. Eric held her hand tight and brought her fingers to his lips, brushing them lightly before letting go and leaping out of the train and onto the roof. She was half a second behind him and they ran the extra momentum off, neither one needing to tuck and roll.

Eric walked over to the raised edge around the roof, turning to watch the rest of Dauntless leap onto the roof and run straight down the stairwell, ready to see the first initiate jump into the net. Kella was standing a little distance from him on another edge of the roof, and the space between them hummed with tension. But, she was doing as she was told for once, so Eric wasn't about to fuck it up for her.

The initiates started jumping next. The sixteen Dauntless borns in the first couple of carriages all made the leap without much trouble, a couple of them scraping their knees and one getting a face full of gravel when he faceplanted the roof. The transfers, however, where a different story altogether. There was thirteen all up, and nine of them ended up face or shoulder first in the gravel. Two managed to escape with only knee and hand scrapes, and one misjudged the length of the roof. She leaped out into the void beyond the roof and screamed. The look of sheer terror on her face when she realised she was going to hit the pavement below was nightmare inducing. She was moving past the roof, arms and legs waving in a vain attempt to catch onto something... anything... when her leg did catch on something.

Eric saw Kella leap and he was running toward her before he drew his next breath. He watched her reach over the edge, his legs pumping desperately even though he knew there was no hope of getting to her before she fell.

But she didn't fall. She had temporarily anchored herself to an antenna by wrapping her legs around it as she grabbed ahold of the Amity transfer by the ankle. The transfer had smacked her face into the building, and broken her nose by the looks of the blood all over her face, but both initiates where alive. Eric's heart was in his throat as he reached out and dragged Kella back onto the roof, the Amity transfer with her. He took a deep breath and glanced up from the little blonde while she picked herself up off the ground where he'd left her. He saw the train disappear around the bend, a dark haired kid in blue looking out of the last carriage.

He looked down at Kella as she stood before him, chin up and eyes burning, daring him to say something. And say something he did. He grabbed her by the tops of her arms, lifted her and shook her like a rag doll. "What the hell was that, Esarosa? You are an initiate, not a fucking super hero! I aught to put you over my God damn knee and smack your fucking arse until you can't sit down for a week! If I catch you pulling a bullshit stunt like that again, I bloody well will!"

As he raged at her, he became aware of where he was and what he was supposed to be doing. He dropped a visibly upset Kella and she fell on her arse at his feet. He moved past the Amity transfer without so much as glancing at her, and slipping on his leader 'mask', he turned to face the rest of the group.

"Initiates!" His voice boomed across the rooftops. "Congratulations on making it this far. My name is Eric Coulter, and I am one of your leaders. Below our feet is your chosen faction, and the only way for you to get in is to jump. This faction is not for the faint of heart, we value bravery here at Dauntless, and we ask for proof of that bravery." He scanned the terrified young faces in front of him, they seemed even more scared than usual this year. "So... who's first?"

Of course it was Kella, it was always going to be her. She strode up to him and lifted her chin in his direction. Eric contemplated not moving, making her shift him out of the way. The problem with that was, she could. And that would set the wrong tone for the initiates present. So he gracefully stepped to the side, bowing slightly and offering his hand to help her stand on the wall. He didn't expect her to take his proffered hand, if it had been him, he would of pushed it out of the way. But not Kella. She took his hand just as gracefully as he had offered it, and nodded at him like she was royalty. He supposed it fit, looking at her long, white, slightly bloodstained mane streaming behind her and her form fitting black and deep grey clothes. Her split lip and bruised face only emphasised her fearlessness. Her shoulders where back and her head held high, proud. The title 'Queen of Dauntless' wouldn't be out of place if applied to her.

She turned around in his grasp, just like she did when she was teaching him to dance, and faced the other initiates. She smiled brightly at the little Amity, and it was then that Eric realised that he recognised her. She was one of the kids that braided roses into Kella's hair, the one that knew sign language almost as well as Eric did. He could slap himself for taking so long to see the obvious.

Kella interrupted his thoughts by diving backwards off the roof. Like just about everything she did, her dive was graceful and technically perfect. The initiates on the roof gasped as she left the building, and Eric almost chuckled. He couldn't wait for this year's initiation to be over, so he could work next year's with Kella. They where going to make one bad arse team, the initiates where going to be scared out of their skulls.

From below he heard Four call out "First jumper, Kella"


	15. Fourteen

_Hello my lovelies. It's after midnight on a Monday morning here, but I figured I'd better get this finished and posted before all the drama starts, because school holidays..._ -_-

 _Can't promise anything, but I'm gonna try for a chapter a week during the two weeks that my little monsters are home. Cross your fingers for me._

 _~insert typical disclaimer here~_

Fourteen

Four feels the vibrations from the approaching train and tenses. He's standing beside the net with Lauren and Zeke, waiting for the first jumper to throw themselves off the building above. Lauren and Zeke are bickering amongst themselves about who will be the first jumper.

"The transfers are given first shot, it'll be a nose. They look at it logically and realise, first up, that it wouldn't make sense for us to throw them off a three storey building into hard concrete on the first day. The Erudite born Dauntless tend to understand that line between bravery and stupidity really well" Four thinks that Lauren's argument is pretty sound. He thinks of Eric's innate comprehension of Dauntless behaviour and it makes sense, looking at it from Lauren's perspective.

"Depends if anyone misses the jump onto the roof. If there's already an initiate splattered on the pavement outside, the noses will be questioning our logic. And probably our sanity too. They'll hang back and let someone else go first. It's not likely to be a Candor, unless they're getting mouthy at Eric and he throws another one off the building. It's never an Amity, and Four's the only Stiff we've had in decades. It'll be a Dauntless born. If it where next year, I'd bet on it being Uriah. But this year, I bet it's Jordan. He's a little asshole, but he's got this huge chip on his shoulder. He'll do anything to prove that he's the best." Zeke's argument also makes sense to Four. He's seen Jordan around the compound. He was a bully, but he was always willing to go the extra mile to prove himself.

"You're both wrong, it's gonna be Kella" Four's voice is level and sure.

"Why are you so confident, do you know something we don't?" Lauren's voice betrays her mistrust of Four's statement.

Four shrugs. "I know Kella's gonna jump first"

"Fifty credits says you're wrong" Four sticks his hand out and shakes on Zeke's bet.

"I'll match that" Four shakes Lauren's hand too as the majority of the faction rushes past the room to get a good look at the 'fresh meat'.

From upstairs they hear Eric roaring. A lot of it is cut out by the sound of the train departing, but Four distinctly hears the phrases "fucking super hero" and "smack your fucking arse".

"That was Kella Eric was yelling at." Four is very self assured at his assessment, and both Zeke and Lauren look at him strangely. It's not long before the sound of the train has passed and Eric's strong voice rings out again.

"Initiates! Congratulations on making it this far. My name is Eric Coulter, and I am one of your leaders. Below our feet is your chosen faction, and the only way for you to get in is to jump. This faction is not for the faint of heart, we value bravery here at Dauntless, and we ask for proof of that bravery." There is a small pause "So... who's first?"

It doesn't take long for the light streaming down from the hole in the roof to be blocked for a second as a body tumbles gracefully through the air. She lands flat on her back and uses the momentum from the bounce to throw her body fowards onto the edge of the net. She balances there and looks down at Four as he calmly offers her his hand to help her down. She nods regally at him as she takes his hand and steps down. He leans in and whispers in her ear "Do you want to change your name?" He nods at her small head shake and steps back.

"Make the announcement, Four" Lauren's voice is a little shaken.

Four takes a deep breath,

"First jumper, Kella"

oOoOo

Four watches Eric follow the last initiate into the net. He bounces in a similar way to Kella, although without half of her grace, and clambers down to stand next to his fellow instructors. Four nudges Lauren foward, and she starts the usual speech explaining the 'separate but scored together' training and such. He looks at Eric expectantly and the leader sighs before leaning toward Four and whispering "The little Amity transfer wasn't gonna make the roof. Kella decided to play hero and nearly got herself splattered in the process. I was upset."

Four snorted "Sounded a bit more than upset. I'm pretty sure I heard you say you where going to smack her arse..."

"Yeah, and I will too, if she pulls shit like that again" Four sighs as Lauren takes the Dauntless borns to their dorm and Eric stalks off after them. This was going to be one long arse initiation.

oOoOo

Four lead his transfers out to the dining hall after he had horrified them with their sleeping and bathing arrangements, and had them change into Dauntless black. He watched them as they walked out into the chaos that was Dauntless at feeding time. He had a mixed bag this year; six noses, four loudmouths and, surprisingly, two tree huggers. The pair from Amity where interesting. One was a hulking boy with a temper and longish brown hair, while the other was his opposite. She was small and thin, with strawberry blonde hair and a pleasant disposition. She was the one Kella had jumped after. What really interested Four about the Amitys though, was that they seemed to be glued at the hip. They reminded him of Eric and Kella. They moved in sync with each other, always touching in some way or another. It was like they where two halves of the same organism, even if they looked like polar opposites.

The former Erudite and Candor initiates all sat at the table next to the two tables of already seated Dauntless born. The former Amity initiates, on the other hand, moved toward the table that Kella was sitting at. They sat opposite her and the little strawberry blonde greeted her in sign language. Four cursed under his breath as he went and sat next to Kella. Of course the two Amity transfers would be her friends. Four really hoped that they knew how to keep their mouths shut.

Josh, the Dauntless born sitting next to Kella, was introducing himself to the little Amity when Four sat down.

"Hi there, little dove, my name's Josh."

"Rose" She said, taking his offered hand and nodding toward her large companion "and this is Stuart"

Stuart grunts in Josh's general direction as he begins stuffing his face with a huge burger. Four takes him to be the strong, silent type.

"So, that's the first time she's communicated with anyone since she jumped after you on the roof. How'd you know that she can sign?" Josh's curiosity was going to get them all in trouble.

"She came out to Amity with Eric once. She fixed a truck that the other Dauntless mechanics couldn't fix and she signed with Johanna while she was there. I knew we where transferring to Dauntless, so I got Johanna to teach Stu and I how to sign. I figured it'd be nice if we could communicate with everyone." Four almost sighs in relief. Rose can lie, that's good, 'cause he knows damn well that Eric didn't think about transfers with big mouths when he let Kella run wild through Amity.

"Oh" is Josh's reply. Guess that wasn't the explanation he was expecting.

Kella is signing franticly at Rose with one hand while she eats with the other. Rose's face is turning red as she nibbles at her food and Stuart is scowling into his burger

"What's she saying?" Josh's almost whispers

"She's yelling at me for missing the platform. She's not happy that I let myself be distracted by the Erudite that didn't jump. She told me that this isn't the place for 'empty headed, tree hugging, hippy dipshits'."

The rest of the table starts laughing at that, and even Four has a small chuckle. Stuart is still scowling into his burger and when the laughter settles he growls at Rose "She's right. I thought you where right behind me, but you stopped to worry about a nose, of all people. One second, I've got a hold of your hand and we're jumping, next moment, you've let go and you're in the air over the top of nothing! If you keep that shit up, you'll end up factionless or fucking dead! You're just lucky Kella likes you so damn much" Stuart seems to have exhausted his word limit for the day, as he goes straight back to scowling at his burger. Rose puts her head down to her food, her cheeks burning red.

"That was a really good catch though, Kella. I thought she was a goner for sure" Kella nodded acknowledgement at Josh's compliment and he continued "I thought Eric was going to throw you off the roof though, I've never seen anyone stand up and glare at him before. When he shook you, I thought he was gonna rattle you to pieces. And then you just upped and back flipped off the edge like it was nothing. I tell you what, Kella Esarosa, you either have some massive balls, or a fucking death wish."

Kella chuckled and winked at him as she loaded up another burger with all the sides.

"I'm not sure which it is myself" Eric's voice was quiet, but it was enough to scare the living daylights out of Josh and half the Dauntless born initiates on that side of the table. None of them had heard Eric walking up behind them. Even Four startled slightly. Kella, of course, was unfazed. She looked up at him standing behind her and smiled sweetly, huge burger in her hand. "Fortunately for you, Miss Esarosa, Max has failed to see the stupidity of the situation, and is instead focusing on the bravery. My statement from earlier still stands though. If I catch you doing anything so stupid again, I will put you over my knee" Eric is calm, but deadly serious. Kella looks up at him calmly and nods her comprehension at him. As he turns around and heads back to the leaders table, Four hopes he's the only one that noticed Eric's hand rubbing Kella's shoulder as he spoke, and the fact that, by the time he had finished making his threat, his hand was halfway wrapped around her throat...

oOoOo

It was only two weeks later that Four caught Kella somewhere she wasn't supposed to be. He'd had a bad night. So, instead of moping around his apartment, he'd decided to go into the training room early and hit some shit. When he walked in, however, the room wasn't as empty as he'd been expecting it to be. Four hung back, quietly taking the scene in. Rose was standing in front of a bag, and beside her, Kella was pushing her limbs into the correct stance. The stance that Kella was showing her was slightly different to the one Four had been teaching the class. He could see that it was more geared toward a small person fighting a much larger person.

When little Rose started hitting the bag, Four was surprised to see it moving. He got the feeling that he was missing something here. During training, Rose hadn't once made the bag move. Fights hadn't started yet, but already Rose was looking like she wouldn't score high enough to pass the first stage. This Rose he was watching now, though, she looked like she might pass. She even looked like she might do well.

Four watched as Kella continued to intensively train Rose, emphasising her points with fast hits to Rose's generally unguarded midsection. When they looked like they where winding up, Four cleared his throat. Both Kella and Rose looked like deer that had been caught in a spotlight and Four revelled in the fact that he had finally been able to startle Kella.

Rose is quick to defend her extra trainer. "It was my idea, Four, please don't blame Kella. She's just helping me get on a more even playing field with the rest of the initiates. Cause I'm so small, and she's even smaller, she can teach me her way. Please don't tell Eric. He'll spank her, I know he will. She's only doing it because Tony's giving me a hard time and I need to be able to defend myself if he tries anything." Rose is breathless and Kella is smirking.

"It's ok, Rose. Trust me, it's fine. You're not doing anything wrong, and I'm not going to say anything to Eric"

Roses sigh of relief is almost comical.

"So, how long has this been going on?" He directs his question to the pair of them, but he knows it'll only be Rose that answers.

"Since day one. We started off just doing mornings, but the last two days we've been doing evenings too. Stu and a couple of the others join us in the evening." Roses voice trails off and she looks down at her feet.

"So how come you're doing so much better now than in official training?"

She had the grace to blush, "Kella said it would probably be better if I didn't show my full potential until I had to. It might make some of them underestimate me in the fights."

Four nodded. Smart plan. "Alright. I'll keep my mouth shut. But Kella, you're not meant to be in here, and if Eric catches you, I'm going to deny all knowledge." Kella smirks and nods at him as she heads out of the training room.

oOoOo

A week after he busted Rose and Kella training, Four is heading past the transfers dorm, when he hears a cry that makes his blood run cold. He runs inside to find Stuart cradling an unconscious Rose, her blood soaking into the filthy floor.


	16. Fifteen

_So, I'm sick and miserable and stuck in bed. But, that means you guys get another chapter, so yay for that. I might be able to get more out these school holidays than I thought I would._

 _~insert boring arse disclaimer here~_

Fifteen

Eric watches Kella ream out the little Amity in one handed sign language and feels slightly better about her jumping off the damn building. He can't wait until she starts talking, she's going to be a firecracker. He wanders around the mess hall, slowly making his way around behind Kella's table. That little smart arse Josh is talking.

"I thought Eric was going to throw you off the roof though, I've never seen anyone stand up and glare at him before. When he shook you, I thought he was gonna rattle you to pieces. And then you just upped and back flipped off the edge like it was nothing. I tell you what, Kella Esarosa, you either have some massive balls, or a fucking death wish."

Eric hears Kella chuckle and decides it's time to speak up.

"I'm not sure which it is myself" Josh and half the Dauntless born initiates on that side of the table jump out of their skins. Kella looked up at him standing behind her and smiled her 'what are you gonna do about it' smile. Eric will show her 'what he's gonna do about it'. He puts his hand on her shoulder. "Fortunately for you, Miss Esarosa, Max has failed to see the stupidity of the situation, and is instead focusing on the bravery." He slides his hand around her, until it's around her throat. Her plentiful hair covers what he's doing from most people, although he thinks Four and the pair from Amity might be able to see. "My statement from earlier still stands though. If I catch you doing anything so stupid again, I will put you over my knee" Eric can't believe how calm the woman is with his hand wrapped around her throat, does nothing scare her? He turns on his heel and stomps back to his table, unsatisfied with the lack of fear his actions had garnered him.

oOoOo

He's watching Kella work the bag. Lauren had gone ahead and shown the class some basic forms and punches, and most of them where practicing those on the bags. Not Kella though; she was going through her own routine. Eric couldn't really blame her, this was all so far below her level that it was laughable. He still wasn't sure what to do in two weeks when the fights started. She had been right, he couldn't put her up against these kids. Even though she was in with the Dauntless born and not the transfers, she would still eat them alive.

Eric was contemplating the situation when Lauren walked up beside him.

"So. She's going to be fighting you? Cause I am so not putting my hand up to volunteer..." Lauren's tone is jovial, but there's an undertone of seriousness to it.

Eric sighs. "Looks like that's going to be the way we go. She warned me that I couldn't put her in the ring with the rest of them, but I didn't realise at the time how good she is. We're going to have to put her up against Four and I so no one can say we didn't put her through her paces."

Lauren snorts "Why are we even putting her through initiation? It's obvious that she's leagues above everyone in training. She's already a super soldier for Christ's sake, she should be training us, not the other way around."

"We need to integrate her into the faction so no one can say that she doesn't belong here, initiation is just the easiest way to do that. That way she's gone through the same crap that everyone else has had to go through. I've already got plans for her to be teaching advanced soldier-craft after initiation" Eric smirks at the small irony of a brand new member teaching an advanced class, that sort of a shit would never fly at Erudite.

"Does she know about your plans?" Lauren raises an eyebrow at him

Eric smirks again and turns on his heel "Not yet" he throws over his shoulder as he walks away.

oOoOo

The transfers are just as frustraighting as they are every year. The noses are learning well enough, but they're complete and utter suck holes. Tony, in particular, is already getting on Eric's nerves. The Candors are sassing Four at every turn and it won't be long before he snaps at them. The Amitys are interesting, to say the least. The big one is doing fine, he seems like a natural. The little girl, however, should never have picked Dauntless. He knows that it's just the first day, but he would bet everything he owns that she won't make the first month here. The fights start in two weeks, and that will be when they start sorting out the Dauntless from the wannabes. Kella isn't going to be happy when the little girl doesn't make it, but Eric doesn't know what he can do about it.

Four walks up beside him and nods "Eric. What do you think of this years crop"

"I think that if the changes Erudite are proposing to our initiation get passed, most of these kids wouldn't make it through. Where we really this bad when we transfered?" Eric wonders aloud.

Four chuckles "We where worse."

"Worse than Tony?" He questions

"Well, maybe you weren't quite that bad. You where pretty close though" Four says with a half smile on his face

"You where the big Amity" Eric teases

"Stuart, and I wasn't that big when we transfered. That kid is a fucking monster." Eric laughs at Four's denial

"You weren't that big, but you where just as Dauntless. You where Dauntless from the time you jumped on the train, the rest of us had to catch up" Four's face is turning red. Just goes to show, you can take the Stiff out of Abnegation... "How's the other Amity doing?" Eric questions

"Rose?" Eric nods and Four sighs "Kella's gonna be so upset when she doesn't make it" Four looks like Eric feels; helpless...

oOoOo

It's two weeks in and it's time to start the fights. Eric's only really seen Kella when he's been observing the Dauntless born's training, and it's driving him crazy. He's only managed to touch her a handful of times, mostly during shooting or knife throwing lessons when he held her against him to 'correct her stance'. Lauren had eyed him up every time, she knew her stance was perfect. He was buzzing with anticipation for his match with Kella. He knows he'll be able to touch her without drawing suspicion toward her.

They'd decided to have three matches for Kella, one this week, and two next week. It was only him and Four that had been brave enough to stick their hands up and volunteer, so she was fighting Eric today and again in two weeks, and Four at the start of next week. They where making a small spectacle of Kella's match, and bringing the transfers in to watch as well. Four had reasoned that they needed as many witnesses as possible to verify that there was no favouritism going on. Eric thinks Four just doesn't want to miss the opportunity to see Eric get put on his arse.

He walks into the Dauntless born training room and the whole room goes quiet. Kella is already in the ring waiting for him, hands strapped and bouncing on her toes, grinning from ear to ear. He's already warmed up and strapped his hands himself, so he steps straight into the ring.

Lauren looks nervous as she steps up onto the mat. "Until one of you can't continue, or someone taps out." Both Eric and Kella nod at her "Alright, start" Lauren backs off the mat like it's lava as both fighters move toward each other. Eric strikes first, a straight punch aimed right at her nose. The punch has all of Eric's weight behind it. If it had've connected, it would've broken half of Kella's face.

It doesn't connect, of course, because Kella moves like a snake. She's underneath his arm and her fists are in his ribs and gut before he can think to step back. He jabs aren't as powerful as Eric's punch, but she rains them on him at a speed that beggars belief. He's already beginning to feel breathless as he wraps an arm around her shoulders and brings his knee up into her gut. She lets out an 'oof' as he connects and her breath brushes past his cheek. She doesn't take the time to recover like Eric expects her to, she just brings up a fist to connect with his jaw and her other arm wraps around his neck. As Eric's head snaps back, she jumps and drags herself up his body, wrapping her legs around his waist. He tries to push her off by the chest, but her grip on his waist and neck is anaconda tight and he can't get the leverage.

He looks up at her face and she's grinning down at him. It's then that he realises where his hands are as he's trying to push her away. His ears turn red and he shifts his hands down to her waist. She throws another punch at his cheek and he uses that momentum to throw them both down onto the ground. She tries to keep the momentum going to throw herself on top, but Eric anticipates her and uses his weight to keep her underneath him. She's throwing punch after punch at his face, but he ignores them to throw one at her jaw. A punch like that should have knocked her out, but it didn't. She's still writhing and throwing her fists around underneath him, and he's at a bit of a loss for what to do.

Finally making a decision, he snakes his left hand underneath her shoulders to grab the hair at the back of her head. He yanks her head back and puts his right forearm across her throat, blocking off her airway. She's still throwing punches at his jaw and they don't tickle, but they're starting to get weaker. Her eyes are on him and her hips are moving against his in the most inappropriate fashion as he continues to deny her oxygen. He takes a risk and whispers low so only she can hear "Tap out woman. Tap out for both our sakes, I don't know how much more of this I can take. Tap out, tap out, tap out..."

She doesn't though. She just grins at him as her eyes roll back into her head and she passes out.

Eric removes his arm from her throat and she starts breathing again. He drops his head to catch his breath. He's breathing in her scent at her throat to calm himself when Four kneels beside them and takes Kella's pulse.

"She's fine, just passed out. Eric wins" Four reassures the audience and Eric decides it's time to move. He rolls off of her and lays flat on his back for a moment before he stands up. He looks down as Kella takes a deep gasp and wakes up. She looks up at him with wide eyes and he offers her his hand. She accepts it with a smile and he knows that they're still ok.

oOoOo

Eric decides that watching the transfers first fights might be a good way to get his mind off the fact that he had just choked Kella out in front of an audience of initiates. He still wasn't sure how he felt about it and he was not used to feeling this conflicted.

He looked at the board on the wall when he walked in and did a double take. First match was Rose and Tony. Now that was not Four's usual style, it was Eric's. Usually, it wouldn't bother him what Four did with the transfers, as long as it didn't increase Eric's paperwork. But little Rose was Kella's friend, and he was pretty sure Kella would have the shits with him if he let her get beaten up by the cruel ex Erudite. He grabbed ahold of Four and questioned him. "Rose and Tony? What the fuck man, Kella's gonna kill you!"

"Have a bit of faith, Eric, I know what I'm doing." Four's cocky reply baffles Eric, but he decides to let it go. If Kella wants to blame someone, it'll be Four in the firing line, not Eric.

"First up, Rose and Tony" Four calls, and they both head toward the ring. Tony is saying something nasty to Rose, he can see his lips moving, and the scowl on Rose's face says it all.

They square off at each other in the ring and Tony calls "Your big dumb bull isn't here to save you this time, tree hugger, you're fucked"

Rose doesn't reply, she just waits for Tony to make his move. And move he does. He swings straight for her head, leaving his whole torso unguarded. Rose takes advantage, moving in underneath Tony's arm and, in a move that looks very much like Kella, throws several fast punches to his gut. Unlike Kella, however, Rose moves back out before Tony can grab ahold of her.

Tony is winded already from the hits he took to his solar plexus, but he moves after Rose, obviously angry that the little ex Amity got a hit on him. Rose shifts around him and waits for an opening. It doesn't take long for Tony to leave one, and Rose throws a fist into his throat. Both of Tony's hands go to hold his neck and Rose goes to town on the rest of him. She lays into his soft areas and it isn't long before he's on the ground crying and tapping out. Rose steps back and off the mat while everyone except Four and Stuart stands there with their mouths open.

"Rose wins" Four's statement seems to break the rest of us out of out stupor. Tony looks up at Rose, tears and hate in his eyes, and Eric moves up to Four's side.

"How the fuck? Have you been giving her extra training?" Eric whispers urgently at Four. Four shakes his head and Eric takes in his smirk "Fucking Kella!" Eric snarls

"I didn't say a thing" Four's hands are up in the air, denying any guilt whatsoever.

Eric looks over toward the smart arse little barstard that just got taught a lesson and a chill runs through him. "You make sure you keep an eye on him, Four, I don't trust him as far as I could throw him"


	17. Sixteen

_Warning, graphic depictions of violence and torture ahead. Don't read this chapter if that's not your thing. However, if you've been waiting for Kella to lose her shit, this is it._

~ _Divergent doesn't belong to me, but Kella is probably the dark parts of my subconscious~_

Sixteen

Four is moving faster than he's ever moved before. He has a still bleeding Rose in his arms and Stuart is running ahead, pushing people out of the way. They tear into the infirmary, Stuart incomprehensible, himself shouting for a trauma team. It takes fuck all time for Rose to be sequestered away behind closed doors, Stuart and Four left standing around, covered in her blood. Four could tell she'd been shanked, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to work out who had done it. He needed to find Kella before she finds out from some other source. Stuart starts mumbling and pacing the floor.

"I'm gonna kill him! I'm gonna kill that sneaky little nose cunt if it's the last thing I do!" Four nods at a doctor, who sticks Stuart with a tranq before he can make up his mind to go hunting. Four grabs ahold of the fist that the hulking ex Amity throws at the doctor as he goes down, and makes sure he doesn't hit his head. He leaves him in the care of the wardsman, who promised he would be fine getting him into a bed. He walked out of the infirmary... and straight into Kella.

She snarls at him as she pushes past, running straight into the operating theatre. So much for breaking it to her gently. Four walks back into the infirmary and straight up to the nurses desk. "Page Eric with a code five and this location please" The nurse pales at his request, but does as she's asked. Four sits patiently in the waiting area until Eric shows up.

It's not long before Eric strides in and does a double take at Four's blood soaked appearance. "What the actual fuck, Four?" The worry is evident in Eric's voice as he hurries toward him. Four can't help but think how much their relationship has changed since the last level five he pulled.

"I found Rose in the transfer's dorm, she's been stabbed in the abdomen." Four didn't think sugar coating it would help anyone.

"Shit! Fucking hell! Fuck!" Eric takes a breath. "Stuart?"

"Sedated"

Eric nods and takes a deep breath... "...and Kella?"

"She came barrelling in here before I could find her. She's in theatre with Rose now"

"Shit! Fucking shit!" Eric looks up to the heavens as if he was asking for an answer, or a break. "Do we know who it was?" Eric swears again when Four shakes his head "We can guess though, can't we?" Eric gives Four a meaningful look and he finds that he can't meet his gaze. Eric sighs "C'mon, we're gonna have to put the little fucker in protective custody before she kills him..."

oOoOo

They're wandering around, looking for Tony, for an hour or so before they find him. And they only find him because they hear him scream. Four and Eric rush into the dimly lit corridor to a sight that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Kella has ahold of a ceiling brace with her legs. Her long hair is cascading down from her upside down form. She has Tony in a tight choke hold with one arm against her chest, his feet off the ground. He's trying to scream, but he doesn't have any air left. Her other hand is throwing punches into his ribs and groin, going for maximum pain. Every now and then, she relaxes her grip on his throat, just enough so he can draw a breath, and so he remains completely conscious throughout her beating.

"Kella! No! Drop him!" It's Eric that speaks, and she looks toward him with a feral smile, eyes flashing red, and drops the transfer to the ground. She swings her body down and lands in a half crouch, a little behind Tony. He squeals and tries to run, but she grabs ahold of his leg and drags him back to her. He screams properly as she starts working his face over with her fists, each blow obviously positioned to cause the most amount of pain possible. Four hears his cheekbone crack, as well as his nose and eye socket. Four wants to move, but he's both mesmerised and horrified by the sight in front of him. Eric must be the same, because he doesn't move either.

Kella must get tired of going for his face, because she starts on his fingers next. She's sitting on his chest with her knee on his throat, his hand in hers, breaking his fingers one by one when Four finally comes to his senses. He goes to grab her but stops when she snarls at him. Four takes a step back, was it really worth losing his life over?

Eric steps forward then, pushing past Four. He gets right up in Kella's face and says "Stop". Kella looks at him, drops the hand she was working on... and picks up the other one. Four can just about feel the 'crack, crack, crunch' of more fingers being broken.

"Kella, you need to stop this now. We need evidence so we can convict him and put him away." Eric reasons. Kella rolls her eyes and pouts at him, ripping one of Tony's fingernails out with her bare hands. Four's guts roil at that, but Eric's gaze doesn't waver. He continues to look right into Kella's eyes. "Kella..." Eric's tone has lowered and he's reached a hand around the back of her neck. From where Four is standing, it looks like he's rubbing the tension out of her neck. She throws her head back and looks at Eric. Four can see the tears and the rage in her eyes from where he stands.

She sighs at him and stands up. As soon as she does, Tony starts screaming again. This time they can hear what he's saying. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please stop! Please! I won't hurt her again! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Kella snarls at him and kicks him once in the head. To Four's great relief, his screams stop instantly. Kella starts walking away and Eric follows her, looking over his shoulder to tell Four to "Throw that in lock up, I'll deal with it later."

oOoOo

An hour and a half later, Four walks back into the infirmary. He'd done what Eric had asked of him, then ran home to scrub Rose and Tony's blood off his skin. Now in fresh clothes he felt a lot better than he had. His stomach was still tied in knots over what had happened to Rose, and what he'd seen Kella do to Tony, but not constantly having the smell of blood in his nostrils helped immensely.

He walked up to the nurses station. The same nurse that had paged Eric for him looked at him kindly. "You probably want to know how Rose is doing?" She continued at Four's nod. "She's going to be ok, Four. She's out of surgery and in bay seven. Her boyfriend is awake and in there with her, and so are Eric and Kella." Four smiles and thanks her, making his way over to bay seven. It's the same bay that Kella was in when they first brought her in.

He quietly sticks his head around the corner and is relieved to see Rose is awake and smiling. He moves further into the room and clears his throat. Stuart looks up from his seat right next to the hospital bed and growls a little. Rose smacks the back of his head lightly. "Play nice Stu. He did the right thing." Stuart snorts and puts his head back down on the bed, one arm across Roses body as if he could shield her from the world.

"How are you feeling, Rose?" It's a stupid question, but Four still feels obligated to ask it.

"Oh, like I've been stabbed and lost a lot of blood. The painkillers are almost as good as Amity bread though, so I'm not complaining too much" She smiles at him "Thank you for sedating doofus over here. Silly boy was likely to get himself in trouble, the way he was going." Her gratitude is genuine and it warms Four's heart.

"I was just doing my job" Kella snarls at him when he says that, and he wonders what's gotten into her now. She's sitting on the other side of Rose, Eric standing behind her. Her hands are still covered in Tony's blood and she looks like she's barely containing herself.

"You play nice too" Rose chides Kella. Much like the hulking mass on the other side of the bed, Kella just puts her head down.

Max chooses that moment to walk in. Four doesn't think he's ever been happier to see him.

"Eric, Kella, Four... my office, now!"

The three of them move silently out of the room as Max takes Kella's place beside Rose's bed.

oOoOo

Four is sitting in Max's office with his head in his hands, trying to block the last twelve hours out of his memory. He glances up at Eric and Kella, standing a short distance from him. Kella's face is buried in Eric's chest, her arms wrapped around his waist. Eric is rubing his hands up and down her back soothingly, while staring daggers at Four.

Four cannot believe how vulnerable the little blonde looks. He'd just witnessed her torturing a man, and looking like she was enjoying the act immensely. Now she looked like a traumatised child, needing cuddles from daddy to stop her having a meltdown.

Four jumps to his feet and stands to attention when Max blasts through the door, looking for all the world like a thunderstorm. Eric and Kella don't move at all as Eric's baleful glare shifts from Four to Max.

"Alright then. Sit down the three of you, let's get this shit sorted out." Max orders as he moves around his desk and sits in his chair.

Four sits straight back down. Eric gently guides Kella to a chair and motions toward it. She sits with a frustrated huff and looks at Max with a pout. Eric drags his chair as close to Kella's as possible before he sits and glares at Max again.

"So, here's the score kids. We have a viciously wounded but still alive initiate in the infirmary. We have another initiate in the holding cells, and he's busted up pretty bad. We have him on camera running from the scene of the crime and a full signed confession. We have Four on camera, bringing him in unconscious. What we don't have, is any video of how he may have broken all ten fingers and five ribs..." Max glares at Kella across the desk. "Now, I'm not stupid. I know Rose is your friend, and I know that little fucker deserved what he got. But this is not how we do things here, Miss Esarosa. This is not the battlefield and we're not at war. We're civilised here in this city."

Kella huffs at Max's statement and Eric jumps to her defense "Civilised, really Max? Civilised? This city took her from the place she belonged and tortured her for near on eight months because they wanted to know how she worked. Does that sound right to you? Does that sound civilised?" Eric stands and leans on Max's desk. "You're right though, we're not at war. So why the hell was an initiate stabbed in the fucking dorm for Christ's sake? Does that sound civilised to you?"

While Max and Eric stare it out, Four looks over at Kella. She's lost the 'traumatised little girl' expression and is looking at Eric like she wants to devour him. They really are getting to the point where it's uncomfortable being in the same room as them. He hopes they get this unresolved sexual tension sorted out soon, before they get any more nauseating.

"Fair enough Eric, now sit down and let's discuss this like adults." Max has backed down from Eric, that's a first. Eric takes his seat back next to Kella and she reaches out to take his hand in hers.

"Look. I understand what happened here, but I have to do something. We'll give Kella a warning and a fine. And we can't have her sleeping in with the initiates anymore. Not that she's there much, according to Big Vince she spends most of her time in the workshop anyway." Max gives Kella a half smile, which she returns.

"What do you mean she can't be in with the initiates anymore?"

"She's dangerous Eric."

"We're all dangerous Max, this is Dauntless."

"Not like her we're not. That little smart arse Dauntless born, what's his name... Jordan. You think he's gonna keep his mouth shut about this? He hasn't stopped trying to provoke her since initiation started! If I where her, I'd have already smacked the shit out of the little prick. What do you think is gonna happen when she goes back to the dorm and he starts his usual? She's gonna belt him good and proper. And then I'm going to have to be seen disciplining her again. I don't want to do that Eric." Max sighs. "We'll get her an apartment on the lower levels somewhere..." Eric interrupts Max

"No! You're not putting her down there, locked away from society. She can stay with me again, I'm not scared of her." Eric smirks at Max and Max sighs

"Fine, whatever. Less paperwork for me anyway."

"We done here then?" Eric's arrogant attitude is back with a vengeance. Max just nods at him. Eric turns to Kella, "C'mon you, get your shit together and I'll meet you back home" They both shoot out the door with barely a nod in his direction.

Now that they're alone, Max turns to Four "So, Four, what the fuck really happened in that hallway?"

 ** _So there! Now, question time. I have another chapter written, it's been written since February sometime because it was one of the first chapters I wrote. Now, I'm having guests for the weekend and I have to paint murals on fish tanks (long story, husband's fault, blame him) so I'm not likely to get the time to write for a little bit. Do we want the next chapter now or do we want to post it in a week and prolong the torture?_**


	18. Seventeen

_Warning, smut ahead. If this isn't your thing, skip this whole chapter_ ;-)

 _Posting at 2am because RebelScorn makes a good argument :-D_

~ _I don't own Eric, but I wish I did for this chapter~_

Seventeen

An idea occurred to Eric as he observed Kella lying on the bed, in her panties and nightshirt, reading. She makes noise when she can't help it, like when he'd tickled her, but she'd yet to speak a word. He knew that she could speak, she just didn't want to. He sighed quietly. He was desperate to hear her voice. He didn't really care if she ever spoke a word in public, like everything with this woman, he wanted her voice all to himself. The possessiveness he felt for her frequently alarmed him, but he didn't seem to be able to control the burning feeling in his gut. The one that urged him to touch her, bite her, mark her... make her his own.

She rolled onto her front, her nightshirt riding halfway up her ass as she supported herself on her elbows. Eric devoured her legs with his eyes, he wanted her so badly it was painful. His poor cock was doing it's best to pull a Houdini and escape from the tight confines of his pants, his balls ached like someone had taken a cheap shot, and there was a constant, pulling pain in his guts, every time he looked at her. The gut pain confused him. The Houdini penis and the aching balls he understood, I mean, just look at her... fuck. Not only was she the most glorious creature he'd ever seen, she was on his bed, in not much more than her underwear, sucking and nibbling on the end of that pen... God! He wanted to be that pen!

Ugh! He'd gotten distracted again, that was happening a lot around her. What was he thinking about? That's right, her voice, his idea. Jeannine had tried to torture her voice out of her, and that had done fuck all. But his mother had always said that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar... It was an idea...

Eric huffed at himself. It was an idea alright, a bad one. A very, very bad one. Bad, bad idea. Bad, bad man, stop it! She's still an initiate. A mentally unhinged initiate. Admittedly, she was a mentally unhinged initiate that was entirely capable of looking after herself and making her wishes known, but he was still in a position of power. Unbidden, visions assaulted his mind. Kella, spread-eagled across his bed, his head buried between her thighs, her moans urging him on. Harder. Faster. Until she called his name, legs shaking and hips bucking into his face...

"Kella..." Eric breathed, not realising he'd said it aloud until she turned her head. Eric held his breath as she looked him up and down, obviously taking in the tension in his body and the yearning in his face. Her lips part with a faint but audible pop as she draws breath at his appearance. Her tongue appears and wets her bottom lip just before she takes it between her teeth. Jesus Fuck! That's it, he's done for. He feels like he's going to die if he doesn't get his hands on her right fucking now. All the reasons he shouldn't fly straight out of his head and leave only one semi-coherent thought...

"Fuck it!" He grunts as he reaches for her face and pulls her to his lips. She moves easily, willingly, and his heart rejoices. He holds her face hard with one hand as he crushes his lips to hers with bruising force. The other hand reaches for her hip, squeezing it forcefully as he drags her flush up against his shaking body. Her hands snake out to wrap around his neck, burying themselves in his hair. She parts her lips and groans into the kiss as she throws a leg over his body, trying to get closer to him. He moves the hand on her hip down to the back of her thigh, adjusting her angle so she can feel just how badly he needs her. He swallows her small moan and answers it with one of his own when he feels the heat radiating from her groin against his leg.

He rolls them over, throwing her on her back against the bed. Her eyes are burning into his soul as he rips her nightshirt from her body, buttons flying across the room. Eric stops dead as he looks down at the perfection lying before him. White scars wind their way around her torso, stark against her tanned skin. They travel from her hip like vines, spreading out and tangling across her abdomen, before feathering out as they travel up her chest to her colarbone.

"Jesus!" He breathes "You're fucking beautiful!" He can't seem to help himself, without even thinking, he bends his face to her hip. He kisses and nips at the scars, following them up her torso. "So fucking beautiful, so strong, so Dauntless" he whispers into her skin as he works his way up to one of her pert breasts. She's panting by the time he gets there, her hands buried in his hair again, holding his face to her body. Eric is supporting himself with one arm, kneeling over Kella as he worships her scars with his mouth, his other hand wandering over her thighs.

As he reaches for a pert nipple with his mouth, he presses firmly on the inside of her thigh, opening her up to him. His hand glides down towards her centre and her legs automatically start closing. He snaps his head up, her dark, puckered nipple popping out of his mouth. He looks into her slightly startled eyes and snarls at her.

"Open your fucking legs, Kella" What he'd meant to come out as a begging request, was barked out as a sharp order. His stomach had dropped when her legs had began to close. He needed her open to him, needed to have all of her. He needed her more than he needed air. Her eyes half closed and her head rolled on her shoulders as she spread her legs wide for him again. Eric started breathing again as he watched the look of lust deepen on her face, but it still wasn't enough to still the fear that her simple reflex had awakened in him.

He moved up her body, shifting Kella to where he wanted her rather forcefully. Her low moans only made him rougher as he got her into position. She was lying in a three quarter position between her back and her right side. Eric's left arm was laid underneath the tops of her shoulders, supporting them, his hand gripping the top of her left arm tight enough that he was going to leave marks. His right leg was lying over her right leg, pressing her knee into the mattress, and his right hand was holding her left knee out as far as looked comfortable, spreading her legs wide. He gave her a pointed look before he moved his hand away, and she nodded her comprehension back at him.

He was now so desperate to touch her, he was shaking. She was still wearing her knickers, how the hell had he missed that? He brushed the back of his hand over the crotch of the soft, black underwear and found them ruined already. She jerked her hips up as he gently moved his fingers under the sodden strip of material, getting a good grip on it before ripping it out of his way.

Now there was nothing between him and what he needed. Without giving her any warning, he plunged two fingers into her dripping gash as deep as he could. She moaned loudly as his fingers slid in easily, right to the hilt. Eric let go a throaty groan right into her ear.

"So. Fucking. Wet!" He added a third finger and grabbed ahold of the tendon in her throat, just below her ear, with his teeth. He rolled his fingers as he began pumping in and out of her, while slowly increasing the pressure of his teeth. She was gasping and panting loudly, her left hand hooked around the back of his neck, clutching him to her, when she shoved her right hand down his pants and grabbed a firm hold of his straining cock. He let go of her throat with his teeth and shoved his tongue in her ear. A spurt of wetness hit his palm and he about loses his shit then and there. She was moaning so loudly now, he thought they must be able to hear her back in Erudite. It was bliss.

"Let me hear you baby, let me hear you" he hissed in her ear. She gritted her teeth and groaned. She sounded like some form of wounded animal, it was glorious.

"That's it love, let me hear you. You're so wet. So, so wet. Is that all for me?" She's nodding desperately at him as his lips brush against her ear. He backs off just a little, and she whines loudly.

"Tell me what you want baby, tell me and I'll give it to you." He begs "I'll give you anything you ever want, ask me and it's yours. Just talk to me, please". He raises his head to look at her face. Her eyes are tearing up even as they roll back into her skull, and her mouth is working overtime, but only grunts and moans are coming out.

"You want to, I know you do. C'mon baby, tell me. Please talk to me" He watches as her head shakes from side to side and he can just about see her mind melting. She's allowed herself to be absolutely helpless in his arms, and his whole body jerks in reaction. The sweet torture is written as clear as day on her face.

"Oh God! Cum for me! Kella! Cum for me!" He twists his fingers inside her as he thrusts them up toward her sweet spot hard. He hits it again and again, hard as he can.

"Errrrrriiiiiiccccc!" She screams her first word at him as she starts cumming like a fucking fountain. It's the best sound he's ever heard, coupled with the best sight he's ever seen. He keeps pumping his hand and she keeps cumming and groaning his name. "OhGodOhGodOhGod" he whispers as he witnesses the single greatest moment of his life. When the fountain starts slowing, he's already on his knees between her legs, pants off and over eager cock in hand. He looks at the mess he's already made of her pussy and licks his lips. He looks up at her face for confirmation as he swipes the head through her slit. He can feel her legs shaking on either side of him as she opens her mouth again

"Please, please, please, Eric! Please!" He can't resist that. He'd give this woman the world if she asked for it like that. He slams into her so hard that he sees stars. Kella screams his name again before her eyes roll back into her head and she goes quiet. Her muscles squeeze him over and over like a vice as he keeps pumping into her, and she whispers "please", over and over again. He's found he can't shout either, all he can do is pant as he fucks her as hard as he possibly can. It doesn't take long for him to get close to his bliss, and he shouts her name in a strangled rasp. She cums again with a vengeance, calling his name and wringing his orgasm out of him. He pours himself into her for what feels like forever, biting her shoulder hard enough that the mark should stay for weeks. Mine! Fucking Mine!

He collapses on top of her, and she winds herself around him like a vine. He lays soft little kisses on her hair, her temple, her eyelids, her nose, her jaw and her mouth. She kisses him back with tired little pecks, looking about as exhausted as he feels. He rolls off her, dragging her back into his front as he moves, not giving her a chance to get away. Snuggling his face into the back of her neck and ear, he whispers her name. Just as he's drifting off, He hears the most beautiful voice in the world. A soft sigh...

"Eric..."

 ** _Ok, so, that was my first bit of smut. Eric popped my cherry :-P_**

 ** _Constructive criticism is welcomed and encouraged in the comments :-)_**


	19. Eighteen

_Ok, so, QA._

 _This initiation class is the year before Tris', so she's not in the story as of yet._

 _Kella isn't entirely human, and that's all I'll say about that right now_ ;-)

 _I'm really glad you guys enjoyed the last chapter, I was really nervous about posting it_. _That chapter has been running around in my head since early Jan, so it's good to set it loose on the world._

 _There's some smut in this chapter as well, after the third page break if you're trying to avoid it._

 _~Insert smart arse comment about disclaimers and wanting to jump Jai Courtney~_

Eighteen

Eric wakes up warm and comfortable, wrapped around Kella. He keeps his eyes shut and pulls her chest tighter into himself, burying his head in her neck and breathing deeply. Slowly, he realises that they're both naked, and memories of last night come back to him. He gasps and starts kissing her neck, working his way down along her jaw, until he gets to her mouth. He loses himself in the kiss, Kella's hand weaving it's way into the hair at the back of his head, holding him tight to her lips.

Eventually he has to come up for air, and he opens his eyes for the first time this morning. He looks down at the beauty in his bed, with her eyes glowing clear blue and a halo of white/blonde hair surrounding her head, his mark on her shoulder, and wonders how the hell he held off for so long. This feels so right, like coming home after a long trip away, he doesn't know how he denied the longing in his gut for as long as he did.

"G'day you" Her accent surprises him, he's never heard an accent in person before.

"Gehday yourself" He replies uncertainly. She laughs at him.

"Don't. Don't do that love. It always sounds spaz when a Yank tries to do an Aussie accent. I can drop the accent and sound more like you if you'd like?" She said, still chuckling underneath him.

The breath catches in Eric's throat "No! Don't you dare! It's sexy as fuck. Just, maybe don't use it if it's not just us. I didn't realise you came from so far away."

"Well, I don't plan on talkin' in front of many people, so it shouldn't be a drama."

"Why not?" Eric's Erudite curiosity is really piqued now.

"'Cause talking leads to questions, and I'm not ready to be giving the answers" she says quietly, looking away from him.

He drags her face back to his. "I'm not asking, ok? And if the curiosity gets too much for me and I do ask, just tell me to fuck off"

She giggles at him and kisses him on the tip of his nose, effectively ending the conversation as they lose themselves in each other.

oOoOo

They're leaning against each other in the shower when something occurs to Eric. "Esarosa isn't an Australian name, is it?"

"Nope"

"But your accent is Australian"

"Yup"

"Care to explain?"

"I moved to Australia when I was two"

Eric waits for her to continue. When she doesn't, he guesses that he'd gotten as far as she was willing to talk right now about her life before Chicago. He picks up the soap and starts washing her back with the firm strokes that he knows she prefers, trying to soften her up before his next question.

"So, why exactly did you flip your lid yesterday? I'm not saying the little prick didn't deserve it, but you scared the living shit outa Four."

"Asshole had it coming, he hurt someone that I give a shit about. And all because he didn't want to put the time in to improve himself. I have zero fucking patience for slackers. Speaking of which, Four's on my shit list too. Stupid son of a bitch should've been keeping a better eye on his initiates." She's snarling and growling by the end of her little tirade, and Eric gives up the pretence of washing her back in favour of rubbing the knots out of her shoulders and neck while he holds her close.

"You're right there, I warned Four to keep an eye on the sneaky little fuck, but he obviously didn't heed my advice. He's not a bad man, Four, he's not as dumb as he looks either. He just has trouble seeing past his own nose at times." Kella nods and sighs into him. "I still think I'm missing something though. You seem quite close to the couple from Amity, particularly the girl. You risked your life on choosing day. I'm still not sure if I forgive you yet for that shit, by the way, you just about gave me a fucking heart attack. And then you torture and beat this guy half to death, and hang the consequences. What's up with that, you haven't even known her that long?"

"I'd spent even less time with you when you stormed Erudite to save me" She batted her eyelashes against the spray in her eyes as she looked up at him.

"Fair point" he gave begrudgingly

"We talked quite a bit out at Amity, while you where drinking Rum with Johanna. She's so in love with Stuart, and he's so in love with her. They've been in love with each other since they can remember. But Stuart's Dauntless through and through, and Rose is Divergent. She's part Amity, part Erudite. The original plan was to stay in Amity, but Stuart was struggling with the peace serum already, and you know that would only get worse. He wouldn't make it in Erudite because he's not an academic in any fashion, and they assumed that Rose wouldn't make it in Dauntless. They where both going to transfer into Abnegation, but I told them that I could get Rose through initiation here. I told her she was clever enough to get through and we could work on the rest. It's my fault she's here, so she's my responsibility." The last sentence was mumbled into Eric's chest as Kella pressed her face into it, probably attempting to cover the slight hiccough in her voice. It did nothing to hide the tremor in her shoulders though, and Eric rubbed the back of her neck, up to her skull and back down again, hard.

"So you feel responsible for her. I can understand that. But I still don't think that's the whole story..." Eric dares a glance down at Kella, who is looking a little wistful at this point.

"I also think she's a wonderful person. She's so kind, but not obscenely kind like the rest of Amity. She's understanding and warm, but she's sharp and logical at the same time. She reminds me of someone I used to know."

Eric knows better than to ask who, that would be too much. It's enough that she's shared this insight into her turbulent mind, it's been insightful beyond what he had expected.

oOoOo

It's Four's turn to fight with Kella, and Eric is forever thankful that he's not in Four's place. He wouldn't trade him for the wide world. Kella had calmed slightly over the weekend, especially after seeing Rose healing rapidly after she was given a dose of healing serum. Healing serum that Kella had tampered with to give it a boost, as apparently those Nosey fucks where holding out in the medicine department too. But she was still mightily pissed at Four.

She walked into the ring like she owned it, rolling her shoulders and loosening her arms. If she'd had a theme song at that moment, it would be 'Seek and Destroy'.

Four walked into the ring looking like he'd already been defeated. His theme would be a funeral dirge. Kella's cold shoulder treatment had really taken it's toll on him.

Lauren stepped into the ring and looked from one to the other with a raised eyebrow. "Until one of you can't continue, or someone taps out." Both fighters nod at her "And, start"

Lauren only just makes it off the mats when Kella rushes past her, flying at Four. Four is quick, but Kella is something else. His blocks are by far too slow and she strikes him in the face three times before he can get an arm up. She ducks under the straight punch Four sends toward her and lays into his abdomen, targeting his vital organs. Eric can tell that she's getting some very good hits in, Four's likely going to be pissing blood for a week. Seeing her take advantage of every one of Four's minor weaknesses makes him wonder if she might have been going easy on him when they had fought. Then he watches her drop to the ground in a split to dodge a punch and take out one of Four's knees while she was down there, and there's no doubt in his mind. That fucking bitch had let him win.

Four must've realised that he was going to have to fight as hard as he could if he wanted to walk out of the ring unassisted, because it looked like someone lit a fire under his arse. He started throwing them as fast as Kella could dodge them, taking a leaf out of her book and going for the soft bits, the places he could do some damage. Kella dodged and weaved around him, looking just as graceful as when she'd danced that 'ballet' dance for Eric, moving her body in ways that didn't look natural. She threw herself around his fists, keeping safe just out of his reach with every punch and kick he threw at her.

And then he connected. A fist with every ounce of Four's considerable power clocked her on the jaw. He should've heard a crack, should've seen the tiny blonde woman crumple to the ground at Four's feet. But what he heard was a snarl that raised the hairs on the back of his neck, and what he saw was Kella's eyes burning as she glared at Four, who was slowly backing away from her. She leapt across the ring, throwing a spin kick so fast that she seemed to blur. Four didn't have a hope of blocking it, Eric doubted that he even really saw it coming. Her foot connected with Four's head and he crumpled, hitting the ground like felled timber.

She landed gracefully on one knee in front of the fallen instructor, her hand quickly reaching out to check for a pulse. She looks up at Eric and nods, and he breaths a sigh of relief. Four lives to fight another day, with everything but his dignity intact. He wants to rush over to her, take her in his arms and check her over for damages. But he can't. He stands, hobbled by his rank, and watches as Stuart walks over to her and shakes her hand, clapping her on the shoulder like old comrades. Josh bounces toward her, picking her up and jumping with her in his grip while he sing songs "Kella beat Four's arse, Kella beat Four's arse" over and over. The rest of the initiates crowd around her, jumpy and bubbly and excitable as only teenagers can be. She looks toward Eric and he can clearly read the 'Save me' that is written across her face, but there's nothing he can do anyway. As much as it irks him, he lets the initiates have their small victory celebration. He has plans for a celebration of his own later.

oOoOo

It's not until after lunch that Eric manages to get Kella alone. He waits for her in an old broom cupboard and yanks her in with him as she walks by with some of the other initiates. She doesn't squeal like he expects her to, just presses herself up against him as he holds her face with both hands and kisses her breathless. Her hands are holding fast to his shoulders as he comes up for air, and she smiles brightly at him.

"I've been needing that all day" she sighs at him.

"Is that all you've been needing?" Eric teases. She shoves her hand down his pants before she answers.

"Nope! Been needin this badly too." She grabs ahold of his already hard dick firmly and starts stroking, rubbing her thumb over the tip to spread the precum over his velvety head. He groans into her hair and shoves his tongue into her ear, loving the way it made her gasp and squirm up against him.

"God, Kell! You're gonna be the death of me" Eric is panting into her ear as he grabs ahold of an arse cheek with one hand and shoves the other one down her pants and into her slippery folds.

"Please, Eric! Please! Please!" She's already begging him, so he turns her around, pushes her against the wall and yanks her pants down, uncovering her behind and the tops of her thighs. He's got his zipper down and is balls deep inside her before he even really registers what he's doing. All he can think is that Kella wants this, and wants it bad enough to beg, so he's damn well going to give it to her. She gives a strangled little cry as he enters her, throwing her head back into his shoulder. He moves an arm in front of her, reaching up between her breasts to hold her throat firmly against him without cutting off her air. His other hand is between her legs, working her clit hard as he thrusts into her. Both her hands are flat against the wall that she's pressed up against, and when he looks down at her face he sees absolute extacy written all over it. She comes undone around him with a whimper, her eyes rolling back into her head and her mouth stretched wide in a silent scream. Her whole body spasms around him and he groans unintelligible words into her ear as he spills himself deep inside her in the longest orgasm he's ever had.

He holds her tighter still as he starts coming down from his high, realising that her friends will be coming to look for her at any moment, and they can't be allowed to find either of them in this position. He starts backing off of her and she squeezes her internal muscles in protest.

"No! Stay in me, please, stay in me." Her cry is small and quiet, and it breaks Eric's resolve as he pushes himself back into her.

"I can't, Kell. You know I can't. We shouldn't even be doing this here." He rocks into her again, already feeling himself harden. She mewls prettily as he moves against her, rocking her hips and panting. He can feel his self control slipping again as she moves, and he tries to remember his argument.

"We can do this all night, Kell. I'll fuck you hard up against the shower wall all night if you want me too. But we need to stop now."

"I might not get home until late tonight. The other initiates are insisting on taking me out to celebrate my victory today. Apparently I'm going to play a game called 'Candor or Dauntless'" Eric groaned, that could take all fucking night. The last of his resolve washes away when Kella looks up at him over her shoulder and whispers "Please". He can't help himself, he rocks back into her with bruising force. He promises himself that this will be the last time they have sex in public until after initiation, but he knows damn well that he started it, and that he'll start it again. He just can't seem to help himself.


	20. Nineteen

_Sort of smut warning, but not graphic at all, for the last couple of paragraphs._

 _We have a new POV in this chapter, I hope you enjoy his royal grumpiness._

~ _Divergent isn't mine, and neither is Eric. But Stuart is...~_

Nineteen

Four didn't know what he'd done wrong. Kella was avoiding him, and when she couldn't avoid him, she stared daggers at him. He understood that she was upset about her little friend getting hurt, but why she was taking it out on him he didn't understand. They where warming up for their match and she was still shooting him dirty looks from across the training room.

They walked into the ring and faced each other, Lauren walking between them and raising an eyebrow at Four.

"Until one of you can't continue, or someone taps out." We both nod. "And, start"

Kella leapt at him, bounding across the mats like she had wings. She had three hits on his face before he could even register to get an arm up. She's straight under his first punch and right into his soft spots. Fuck it! He should've remembered from watching her fight Eric, but she's so fast that it's hard to think. She's laying into his vitals, it hurts like a bitch. He tries desperately to lay one on her, but she drops off his radar in an instant. The next thing he knows, pain radiates through his knee and he almost goes down.

Things have gotten very serious, very quickly. If he wants to make it off these mats with even a small amount of his dignity left, he's going to have to get serious too. He starts throwing them in earnest, his fists and his feet, as fast as he can, just hoping to get a hit on the blur that surrounds him. He finally gets one. He's not even sure at this point where he got her, but he got her.

He heard an otherworldly snarl come from the small blonde in front of him, and he knew he was fucked. He tried to back away as he stared into the burning coals that where her eyes, but it was no use. He saw a blur, felt a flash of pain in his head, and then saw no more.

oOoOo

Stuart sat in the circle with the rest of the initiates present. He wasn't sure that this was a good idea, and he'd much rather be in the infirmary, sitting by Rose. But both Rose and Kella had told him that it was important to try and blend in at the moment, so here he was, playing a stupid game, sitting in a circle like a kid.

They'd wanted to play spin the bottle first, but both Kella and himself had protested vehemently. He had then stated that if anyone even thought about making him or Kella kiss anyone for a dare, they where going to have the transfer's top scoring initiate smack the shit out of them, if he was quick enough to beat the Dauntless born's top ranked initiate. That had made them pull their heads in quick smart, and Stuart was glad that both he and Kella had the numbers on the board to intimidate the rest of them.

They'd gone around the ring, twice already before it started to get interesting. Up until this point, it had all been stupid little truths and annoying dares. Who's your crush and stand on the ledge of the roof for five minutes, boring stuff like that. But Sandra, a bratty little Dauntless born, had just dared Kella to 'dance sexy for us'. Kella's music had been shuffling in the background the whole time, and Stuart knew for a fact that she could move. She'd danced around the campfire with Rose back in Amity. Eric had watched her with hungry eyes while he pretended to be lost in conversation with Johanna. Those two really needed to get the fuck over the rules and bang each others brains out already, before someone else became a victim of their pent up sexual frustration.

Kella walks over to the stereo and changes the music from the gravely voice telling everyone that he's eighteen, to something with a more sensual riff. It's the same voice, but he's asking 'what have I got, that makes you want to love me?' this time. She struts back to the group, lifting her feet to her arse as she walks. She moves past Stuart and into the centre of the circle, where she spins on her toes and starts to move her hips. She sways and shakes her arse while she drops down low, arms weaving around herself to keep her balance. She rocks her hips on the way back up and her arms go over her head as she sways to the heavy beat.

Jordan reaches toward her, leering at her as he moves, and Stuart is about to lean across the circle and put one on his chin. But he's too slow, Kella has already placed a bare foot on his shoulder and pushed him onto his arse. The other initiates whoop and holler at her moves, Josh asking her to 'shake it for me baby' while he keeps a good distance from her feet and hands. She laughs, shimmying her chest at him, which gets more whistles and catcalls. She throws her head back and loses herself to the music for the rest of the song, moving her whole body to the psychedelic melody.

When she stops, all the initiates, including Stuart, burst into applause. There's cheering and screaming, and he can't say that being coerced into playing this game was a bad thing. They love her. They love her Dauntless ways and her Dauntless attitude. Her beauty and charm shine through when she dances and she has the whole room wrapped around her little finger. It gives him an idea. This could be either brilliant or disastrous...

oOoOo

The crowd in the dining hall was thinning out, and Four had still to see Kella amongst the ravenous, black clad horde. He hadn't seen her since he'd woken up in the infirmary with a splitting headache and a new appreciation for the fact that he was still alive. There where quite a few of the Dauntless borns, and some of the transfers missing tonight, and Four had a bad feeling that things where about to go pear shaped.

That bad feeling grew tenfold when all the lights dimmed and a ominous voice rang out over the PA system.

"I'm not the one who's so far away, when I feel the snakebite enter my veins. Never did I wanna be here again, and I don't remember why I came."

The music that plays is almost tribal in nature, all drum beats and bass guitar. The lone light in the room is shining on a near naked Kella as she dances seductively on a table top. She's wearing a 'shirt' that barely covers her ample breast, and when she raises her arms over her head, the bottoms of her breasts are exposed, almost to the nipple. She's not wearing a bra, but Four knows that she's wearing panties, because he can see the cheeky little boylegs through her mostly transparent skirt. Not that you can really call it a skirt, more like a belt for all it covers. And it doesn't cover much as she brings it all the way down to a squat on the tabletop, her heals touching her arse briefly before she pulls all the way back up again.

Four nearly has a heart attack when he realises that it's the leaders table that she's dancing on, and a very bemused looking Max is staring up at her. She swishes her see through excuse for a skirt at him as she moves down the table to Eric. The tendons in Eric's neck are so tense that they look like they're about to snap. His jaw isn't much better, and his left eye is twitching. His shoulders are so square that he looks like he's been carved from marble.

Kella seems oblivious to all this as she sways and gyrates to the music in front of him, her eyes never leaving his. To his credit, Eric lets her finish her song. She dances for all the leaders in turn, but, as the last strains of the song fade, she's back in front of Eric. He stands up and grabs ahold of her legs as he throws her over his shoulder like a sack of flour. She struggles against him and if he didn't know them as well as he did, he would think that she was unhappy with being carted around like a rag doll. Four knew better though. If she wanted to be away from Eric right now, she would be. Kella Esarosa was only ever exactly where she wanted to be.

The rest of the room had erupted into cheers and whistles, screams and catcalls at her little performance. She was receiving a standing ovation as she was removed from the mess hall, clearly having won the hearts and minds of the people.

The look on Eric's face scared him though. It was different to the look he had when she and Four had gone out to Amity, or the look he'd given her after she'd beaten that lowlife Tony half to death. Four had understood the quiet fury in those looks. He didn't comprehend the intensity of the look on Eric's face now though.

Eric brought his free hand down once on Kella's almost bare rump and she stopped struggling. He then walked, with her still over his shoulder, out of the dining hall.

Four hesitated. On one hand, he was pretty sure that Eric was in love with Kella, even if Eric himself didn't realise it. He didn't think that he would actually hurt her. But, it was Eric they where talking about, and he had a reputation for a reason. Four hums and haws for a moment or two about following them out of the hall. He knows that no one else will dare follow and he wants to make sure Kella is alright, even if she isn't 'speaking' to him at the present time.

He follows at a distance, his heart stopping when Eric takes Kella up a dimly lit hallway. Four knows it's one of the few with no camera coverage, it was the same hallway where Kella had ambushed Tony. Four hurries after them. He hears Kella make a strangled noise as he rounds the corner. It takes him a long moment to comprehend what he sees in front of him. Eric has Kella's back pushed up against the rough hewn wall, her arms held over her head with one of his huge hands. She has her legs wrapped around his waist and her head thrown back. Eric's face is buried in her throat while his free hand is gripping her thigh. Kella moans and Four finally clicks.

'Well, it's about time' he thinks to himself, turning his eyes away from the passionate scene before him. He spins on his heel and walks away, but stops in his tracks a moment later.

"Eric! God! Please! Eric! Please!"

"I'm gonna fuckin spank you until you can't sit down for a week! And then I'm gonna fuck you so hard you can't walk! Fuck, Kell, fuck... fuck."

"Please, yes, please, please!"

Four starts running as fast as his damaged knee could take him. He didn't need to hear this, at all. He's pissed now. The first words he hears Kella say, and they're fucking 'Eric, God, please and yes'...

oOoOo

 ** _The songs are Alice Cooper with 'I'm Eighteen' and 'Is It My Body', and Godsmack with 'Voodoo'._**


	21. Twenty

_Another smut warning, but for the first part of this chapter, up until the first page_ break. _You know the drill, skip ahead if that ain't your thang._

 _As much as I enjoy writing the smut, I feel like I'm overloading you guys with my private perversions, so I'll try and be a little more plot orientated from now on. There will be more though, I mean, sims are coming up, and that shit is stressful. Gotta unwind somehow_ ;-)

~ _Couldn't think of a proper smart arse disclaimer this time, but the kids go back to school tomorrow, so I might be able to use my brain properly sometime this week~_

Twenty

Eric is eating his dinner at the leader's table when all the lights shut off. The hair stands up on the back of his neck and he has a sneaking suspicion that the Pedrad brothers might not be behind the sudden darkness this time. When a haunting voice fills the room, he's sure he knows who is responsible. He's going to fucking kill her.

"I'm not the one who's so far away, when I feel the snakebite enter my veins. Never did I wanna be here again, and I don't remember why I came."

It's Godsmack. She knows he loves Godsmack, and Voodoo was his favourite. Especially when she would swing her hips to it, dancing so seductively that it should be a sin... Oh shit! This was going to be so bad.

A spotlight shines down on her as she appears before him, clad in a barely there outfit that made him salivate and snarl at the same time. She climbs up on the leader's table and starts dancing, snaking her hands up over her head as she sways her hips. From his position right below her he can see her nipples, he's not sure if it makes him hard, or furious. He admits to himself that it might make him both as he shifts uncomfortably, trying to adjust himself without putting a hand on it. He gives up when she drops down in front of him and just grabs ahold of his knees and holds tight. He's trying his best not to grab her and fuck the shit out of her, just bend over the leaders table and put on a show.

He sits perfectly still as she dances for each of the leaders in turn. He knows that if he moves an inch, he won't be able to help himself and he'll grab her. She's dancing in front of him again when he cracks, leaping up and throwing her over his shoulder. She fights him, but not seriously. He gives into the urge that he's had since he first saw her in that transparent skirt and smacks her on the arse, hard. She stills in his grasp, relaxing against him as he carried her out of the hall.

They're barely in the hallway without the cameras when he throws her against the wall, pressing himself up against her. He drags both of her hands up and grasps them in one of his while she wraps her legs around him tight and groans. He goes for her throat with his teeth and squeezes her thigh hard, eliciting a throaty moan from her as she undulates her hips against him.

He backs off a fraction, teasing her like she'd just teased him, and she's begging before he's even drawn breath

"Eric! God! Please! Eric! Please!"

"I'm gonna fuckin spank you until you can't sit down for a week! And then I'm gonna fuck you so hard you can't walk! Fuck, Kell, fuck... fuck."

"Please, yes, please, please!" He's still not putting the pressure on her that she wants, and she's starting to make a whiney noise in the back of her throat. "Please, Eric! I need you. Please please please! "

"Why'd you go and do that to me? Why did you have to tease me like that. Do you have any idea how close I was to bending you over that fucking table?" He swings his hand back and slaps her arse again.

"Oh, God! Please, yes please." He glares at her and she rushes to answer "I wanted you! You where all I could think about at that stupid party. I got dared to dance sexy in a public place, and I just wanted to be near you. Please! I need you, Eric"

He just about combusts at her confession, he can't hold back anymore. His fly is down and her cheeky excuse for underwear is shoved aside as fast as he can manage it. He slides home in one movement, right to the hilt. They both let out a breath of relief, like they've just put a burn under running water.

"You're all I can think about too" he surprises himself, it's not like him to be so honest. But she's always brought out the real him, so he chalks it up to being another aspect of that. She leans foward and kisses him hard, taking his breath away in the process. He drops her wrists to grab a hand full of the hair at the nape of her neck, and she wraps both her arms around his head. He drops his head to the crook of her neck and breathes her scent as he thrusts into her. His strokes are slow, but powerful, hitting her hard and deep while she quivered around him. He bites her, hard, marking her about two inches away from his other mark on her shoulder. He holds her skin between his teeth as he feels her cumming around his cock, squeezing him so hard that he sees stars. He lets go of her neck and looks into her unfocused eyes as he picks up the pace, pushing into her desperately as he pants.

"Mine!" He tells her as he chases his own release "You're fucking mine! All mine!"

"Yours!" Her voice is higher than usual, almost keening "I'm yours!"

His thrusts become erratic as she cums hard on him again and he reaches nirvana, growling "Mine!" the whole time. He can feel his eyes rolling back into his head as he empties himself into her, holding her tight against him as she shakes uncontrollably.

He's kissing her as soon as he gains control of his body again, losing himself in her wet, responsive mouth. He leans back and looks at her, blonde hair a mess, lipstick smudged all up her cheek and chin, mascara running down her cheeks with the tears leaking from her eyes. He notices the tears and stops cold.

"Kell, are you ok? Did I hurt you? What's wrong baby?"

"No, you didn't hurt me, I'm fine. I just... I need you again. Take me home? Please?"

She didn't have to ask him twice. They straightened up and dodged every camera and Dauntless member on the way back to the apartment, where Eric had every intention of carrying out his threat from earlier.

oOoOo

There was a knock on the door early the next morning. Kella was still in the kitchen cooking breakfast, and Eric was just stepping out of the bathroom. They looked at each other, Kella in Eric's shirt and Eric wearing just a towel, low on his hips. He figured it was better for him to be seen in a towel, as that was explicable. Kella must've agreed, because she ran past him and slammed the bathroom door faster than he could ask her to make herself scarce.

He opens the door and is extremely irritated to find Four was the one disturbing them so early. He'd been hoping for another quicky after breakfast, but that was off the table now. He steps aside and allows the stiff Stiff entrance, shutting the door behind him as he rushes to the kitchen to turn the bacon and put more on. Four sits at the kitchen table and raises an eyebrow at Eric's lack of clothing.

"She was just getting dressed, I'm only babysitting the pan." Is all Eric can think up on the spot "You're a deviation from our routine" he growls

"Oh, so you two have a routine now? How domestic." Eric realises that they're quickly moving into dangerous territory here and tries to back pedal.

"I've always had a routine Four, makes my life easier. You might want to try it sometime." Four chuckles at that, and Eric gets a sinking feeling in his gut. Before he gets a chance to get flustered, Kella strolls into the room and pushes him away from her frying pan. She's dressed for the day in skintight black pants and a blood red top with a high collar, and her hair cascading down her shoulders.

He takes the opportunity to run, shifting into the bedroom at speed. It takes him no time to throw on his usual, and he bolts back out to the kitchen. He hears nothing but bacon sizzling as he nears the kitchen, but he's not sure exactly what he expected. He walks into the kitchen to find Kella at the stove with her back to Four, who is staring at her with a look that is more than a little heartbroken. He sighs and helps Kella with the toast, sitting Four's plate down in front of him when they're done. Kella and Eric wolf their food down, while Four just picks at his. Eric sits back and looks at Four's despondent face. He thinks that Kella may have taken this one too far.

"She's got the shits with you because she thinks you should've been taking better care of your initiates. She partially blames you for Rose getting hurt." There! At least now he knows. Kella snarls at him though, glaring daggers across the table. He was going to be in the shit for this for awhile.

"I'm sorry, Kella, I tried. I had Zeke keeping an eye on him from the control room, and I really tried to make sure that he was never alone with anyone. I know I could've pushed him harder during training, but he's just such a slimy little bastard and he didn't want to fucking learn." He looks contrite as he apologises, and Kella grunts in his direction.

"Now, now, Kella. Don't you think that publicly beating him unconscious was enough of a punishment? He's apologised, for Christ's sake. Cut the man some slack." She rolls her eyes at Eric, but nods at Four, who breaths a sigh of relief and smiles at her. She gives him a half smile back and things are looking good.

"Thank you, Kella. But now that we're on 'speaking' terms again, and talking about your initiate fights, we have a problem. You're not going to let him win again are you?" Four looks concerned, but Kella giggles at him and shakes her head. "Good. Because it would look really suspicious if you went easy on him after tearing into me. And suspicion is something you guys don't need at the moment, since you two are bumping uglies now..." Eric chokes on his coffee while Kella spits hers across the table. Four laughs a deep, booming, jolly sound at their obvious shock and horror. "Seriously, you pair, you might want to can the sex in public, at least until after she passes initiation. And maybe invest in a gag, if you want to keep her accent a secret anyway." Eric is still trying to breath through the coffee in his lungs, but Kella bursts out laughing at Four's advice.

"Oh shit, hahaha! Sorry mate! Did you actually think he was gonna hurt me? Oh, hahahaha!" Four's cheeks heat up at her mirth, but he chuckles through it.

"I didn't think he would, but I had to be sure. He looked fuckin pissed, and a little bit crazy." Eric thinks about what he did to Kella in the hallway last night.

"How much did you see?" He growls at a sheepish Four

"Not much, man, not much at all. You guys started talkin about spanking and I bolted as quick as I could." Eric relaxes and lets out a chuckle while Kella laughs so hard she snorts.

"You missed the best bits then" Eric feels the tension fall from his shoulders as he laughs it off, glad to have their little alliance of three back on the same page again.

oOoOo

He would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous. She was staring into him from across the mats, waiting for him to throw the first punch. He wasn't sure he could do this. If he had to choke her out again, he'd either fuck her into the mats or burst into tears. He's about to gave a proper freak out when she smiles at him. A sense of peace rushes through him, and he feels stupid for even worrying about this. Whatever happened here, it wasn't going to affect them outside of the training room. They could beat the shit out of each other here, then go home and lose themselves in each other all night. Everything was going to be fine.

He relaxed his body, and let his muscle memory take over. His movements where fluid, much more fluid than they used to be. He wondered if it had something to do with the dancing they'd been doing. Every movement he made was more graceful than it would have been before the crazy little blonde had decided that he needed to learn how to dance.

They moved around each other, spinning and dodging, swinging and blocking, neither one getting close enough to get a hit in. It was like trying to fight water. Every time he swung at her, she seemed to break apart and reform on the other side of his foot or fist.

He finally got the first hit in, an open handed smack to the side of her head. She slipped out of his grasp, shaking her head a little as she grinned at him. He grinned back, shit was about to get serious here.

Both of their movements sped up, until Eric wasn't sure where he ended and she began. Every now and then, one of them would get a hit in. A tap to the jaw here, a clip to the side of the head there, until they where both bleeding freely from multiple sources. He relished the sting, the pain that she brought him. It made him feel alive in a way that he hadn't felt for a very long time.

It's not until she finally drops his legs out from under him and moves to a choke hold that he thinks he finally sees just how fast she really can move. Her thighs are wrapped around his neck and her hands hold onto one of his arms as they writhe on the ground. She's got him, he know he can't break out of this. He should tap out, but he won't, not ever again.

What he can do is leave his mark on her. He grabs ahold of her upper thigh with his free hand and squeezes with all the strength he has left. She's going to have a bruise the exact size and shape of his hand, right where the majority of her skirts end.

His last thoughts before he fades from consciousness are 'Mine! Fucking mine!'

oOoOo

He wakes slowly in his own bed, his room is full of people. Kella is curled up beside him, Smiley looking down on him with his wrist in his fingers, taking his pulse. Four is sitting on the edge of his bed, while Stuart and Rose share the rocking chair that Kella brought back from Amity one time, sitting in the corner of the room. He feels slightly woozy, and not quite himself.

As soon as he feels he can move without vomiting, he rips his arm out of Smiley's grasp. He reaches straight over to Kella, taking her face in his hand as he searches her sad eyes for the cause of the quiet in the room.

"Are you ok?" He chokes out worriedly. Silent tears are tracking down her cheeks as she looked at him.

"She's fine Eric" Smiley reassured him "It's you we're worried about. She cut your air off for too long, had to resuscitate you on the mats." The woman in his arms looks stricken, tears speeding up in their race down her face.

"I'm sorry, Eric. I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to. I couldn't see your face. It wasn't until I felt your pulse slow right down that I realised. I'm so sorry!" Her tears start in earnest as she lets out a sob. Eric reaches around her and pulls her close, not heeding anyone else in the room.

"I'm fine, baby. I'm ok. I promise." Eric starts rocking her "Shh, love. It's ok, I got you. I'm not going anywhere, I promise."

"About fucking time" Stuart growls from across the room and Four chuckles.

"They've been going at it like rabbits for awhile now" Four supplies "And she's been talking to him too" Eric feels that the cutesy 'Awww' that comes from Rose and Smiley is unwarranted, but it makes Kella chuckle, so he forgives them instantly.

After Smiley has checked him out he leaves, taking his well wishers with him. They'd made promises to come back later with dinner and Dauntless cake, telling Kella to 'Take good care of him while they where gone'. It's just Eric and Kella in the room now, and he realises just how much the little woman has changed his circumstances. The last time he'd been hurt, Smiley was the only one who had come and seen him, and that was only because he was treating him. Now he supposed he had friends, even if they where only friends by default. He pulls the woman beside him closer as she sobs again. Even if she nearly killed him on a regular basis, he wouldn't trade her for the world.

 **oOoOo**

 **Again, the song is 'Voodoo' by Godsmack**


	22. Twenty-One

_So, this one has a sadness warning._

 _I'm not sure if it's just my father's/step-father's/grandfather's/uncle's/cousin's/husband's profession, and how close I am to it, but I cried while I wrote it._

 _But hey, they say to write what you know, so I did._

 ** _Also, Australian sense of humour warning, nothing is sacred and nothing is untouchable. May be a bit much, especially for Americans._**

 _~No smart arse disclaimer, I'm still feeling a little precious three days after writing this one~_

Twenty One

She's sitting in the passenger seat of a big rig, looking out the side window at the eucalypt forest flying past, and the trailers tracking behind the prime mover in the side mirror. It's a bright day, but there's a tension in the air, a metallic taste in the breeze that weighs heavily on her chest. There's an electrical storm coming. She turns to the driver, a huge bear of a man with bronze skin and hard features, and smiles brightly at him. He grunts at her

"What're you so happy about Missy Moo? You're suspended from school again and you're stuck in the truck with me for two weeks. Don't be thinking this is gonna be a holiday, 'cause it's not. You're gonna work hard this time kiddo. You can get on the fork when we get to Yenora and help Dave and the rest unload. You can do the straps the next load too, give your old man a break for once. God knows I deserve it after the k's I've been doing lately."

She smiled at him "Still better than dealing with Miss O'Shay's bullying and bullshit. I think she must've been picked on a lot as a kid, she's just not happy unless she's making someone else miserable. She likes to make herself feel better by making school kids lives a living hell, but at the end of the day, she's still a fat ginger with a lazy eye." She becomes more animated "Oo Oo Oo! Maybe that's her problem! Maybe she was a red-headed step child! Everyone hates a red-headed step child! I bet she was whiney too! I bet everyone hated her because she was a whiney, self-obsessed, self-important little twat that wouldn't know a good time if it bit her on her huge arse! God! No wonder her father never molested her!"

Her father bursts out laughing, taking big gasps, trying to breath. "Oh, God, Kell! You've been hanging around too many truck drivers!" He manages to get out between snorts of laughter.

"I learned from the best!" Her cheesy grin earned her some more chuckles from the large man beside her before he regained control of himself.

"You're a cheeky little brat, Kell. I don't know how your mother deals with you all week, you must drive her to distraction. If you keep it up, you'll drive her all the way back to America, and then we're both fucked. Who'd cook me proper Mexican if your mum left, eh?" She rolls her eyes at him.

"Mum wouldn't go back, not ever. She loves this country too much, loves you too much too. She might kick me out though. Then I'd have to go out bush and build me a nice little humpy. I'd let you visit, but you'd have to bring your own tucker... I'm not hunting for two" He laughs at her again.

"You wouldn't be hunting for one with the amount of noise you make!" He teased her.

"Three words Dad... Fresh. Road. Kill."

"Yuck, Kell! You've been hanging around with too many of your uncles." The look on his face was hilarious, and it was her turn to snort with laughter.

Her laughter was cut short by a car cutting in front of the truck as they where heading down the hill. His Jakes where already on full noise for the steep decent, and her Dad jumped on the anchors... too hard by the feel of the trailers starting to slide, and they where still going too fast.

"Hang on baby girl" is what her father bellows as he tries desperately to hold her steady, forearms bulging with muscle as he wrestles the steering wheel.

The car in front of them must've realised he was in a bad spot, because he put his foot down and shot away. Her dad tried to accelerate to bring the trailers back in line, but a pot hole in the wrong place flicked them and they went over. Tearing metal and broken glass where all she could hear as the world around her stopped making sense, spinning and flashing around her too fast for her to comprehend. Pain flashed through her in more than one place as they rolled down the hill.

Then they where still. She sat, eyes closed and panting, while she tried to gain control of her body again. When she felt like she could move her head without vomiting, she opened her eyes and looked toward the drivers seat. She screamed as she took in the shattered mess that used to be her father.

"DADDY! DaddyDaddyDaddy! No! Daddy wake up! Daddy!" She undoes her seat belt and tries to move to her father. It's then that she realises that her calf is pinned by a rod of some kind sticking through it. She screams in agony and reaches over toward her father as far as she can. "Daddy, help me! I'm stuck Daddy! I can't get me leg out. I'm stuck daddy! Please! Wake up! Wake up Daddy! Help!" Her pleading does her no good, her Daddy isn't moving. She looks around franticly and spots the driver of the car stopped in front of them.

"Please! Help! My Dad's not moving! Help me, please!" She shouts at the man who's face has gone so ashen he looks like a corpse. He shakes his head at her and she screams at him "HELP ME! I'M STUCK AND HE'S NOT MOVING! PLEASE! HELP!" When he continues to shake his head at her she ignores the useless man and reaches over for her father. She holds his still and bloody hand while she prays. She begs and she bargains, promising any diety that will listen impossible things as she squeezes his cooling hand tightly.

It's paramedics that put an end to it. They try and make her answer questions, but she has no time for their nonsense and ignores then completely. They inject her with something that makes the world fade away from her, and, as it disappears into fog, she drops her fathers hand.

oOoOo

"DADDY!" She screams as she sits bolt upright on the simulation chair, and Four jumps toward her to ensure she doesn't fall off. He holds onto the tops of her arms tightly as she focuses on him and the tears running down his face, fresh ones running down hers. Four watches as she becomes aware of her surroundings. He lets go of her arms as she hangs her head and cries silent tears, curling her knees up and wrapping her arms around them. She always looked small, but she looked like a slight breeze would pick her up and carry her away at the moment. He takes a breath and asks the question he really doesn't want to ask.

"Want to talk about it?" She shakes her head vigorously and takes a breath.

"Nothing much to talk about. I lost my Dad when I was fifteen. It sucked, end of story." She shrugs at him, hopping off the chair and pushing through the door before he can ask her anything else.

He takes a few moments to himself to process what he just saw. It was uncommon for fears to manifest as actual memories of terror, but it wasn't unheard of. Her father's death hadn't just sucked though, it was brutal. The truck had been ripped apart when it rolled, and her father had been a bloody wreck.

But that wasn't all that was bothering Four. The memory didn't make sense. There where people everywhere in Australia, the road was full of cars and trucks. It was very different from America's one city, and that city being so sparsely populated. There where other things too. The technology didn't look right, and he'd caught glimpses of her in the mirror in the sim, she'd had short, brunette hair... with dark blue eyes...

oOoOo

Four watched Kella walk into the room for her second simulation and cringed slightly at her appearance. Her face looked drawn and hard, her eyes bloodshot. He's guessing that she didn't sleep at all over the weekend, which meant it's been over a week since she's slept. She walks straight to the chair and lies on it silently.

"Kella, are you ok?" Fours question is hesitant, not wanting to piss of the person that gave him the bruises he was still healing from.

"'M fine Four. Plug me in." Her voice is quiet, with a hint of growl. Four does as he's told, attaching wires and gently injecting her with serum.

"Be brave, Kell" he whispers as she slips into the simulation. He watches the monitor, quietly waiting for whatever fresh hell Kella's mind has in store for her this time.

oOoOo

She's running over uneven ground, jumping rabbit holes and fences as she goes. Running beside her are three men, all dressed in the same camouflage uniform that she is wearing. They're running like the hounds of hell are chasing them, and going by the gunfire that can be heard all around them, that might not be too far from the truth.

Fields give way to buildings, and the four soldiers have more cover as they duck and weave around them, eventually taking shelter in an alley while they catch their breath. The three men turn toward her, the unasked question clear on their faces; 'What now?'

She draws breath to speak, but before she can, the world erupts into a flash of burning light around them. She can hear screams, and her left shoulder is on fire. She throws her shirt off, but the fire sticks to her where it's burnt through her cotton uniform.

"Fucking napalm!" She bellows as she reaches down for some mud to throw on it. She smothers the flames with the mud and uses the unburnt sleeve of her uniform to wipe the, still burning hot, gel off of her. It's agony, but she's doing what she can to minimise the damage.

Once she's taken as much care for herself as she can in the field with no med kit, she takes a look around at her situation.

It's chaos. Everything is on fire and thick, black smoke fills the air. People are running past her screaming, fire clinging to them as they try to run from it. Two of her team are dead, and one is lying, screaming, in the dirt at her feet. She kneels down beside him, rips his shirt off him, and smothers the flames in mud as she had for her own. He continues to scream as the napalm continues to burn deep into the flesh of his back. She tries to clean the burn, but it's down to the bone in places. There's no way in hell this man is surviving the night, let alone getting back to safety.

She looks to the sky. Its obscured by the black smoke that she must escape soon if she doesn't want any permanent damage done to her lungs. She knows what must be done. Her knife is sharp, and it cuts between the dying man's ribs like the proverbial through butter, reaching his heart with relative ease. She screams her frustration and terror out to the world as she feels his life slipping away. And then she sits, alone, in a pool of his blood; sobbing into the corpse in her arms.

oOoOo

She gasps as she sits up this time, grabbing at the scars on her shoulder like they where still burning her. Four grabs ahold of the tops of her arms again, to make sure she doesn't hurt herself, but she throws him away from her and skitters across the room backwards. She looks like a wild animal, cornered and dangerous, as she scans the room for threats.

"Kella" Four's voice is low and carefully neutral as he attempts to calm the jumpy woman "It's me, Four. I'm not gonna hurt you." He sees the moment that sanity returns to her eyes and sighs in relief, moving toward her to check her out for injuries. She's fine physically, but mentally... she's a mess. "Talk to me, Kella" He needs to know what's going on in that head of hers.

"I'm sorry" her whisper is barely audible as she turns and flees from the scene yet again.


	23. Twenty-Two

_So, I'm a numpty, I've only just worked out that I can reply to the reviews on my story. And it's because I finally got up the guts to actually review a story for the first time. And, yes, I am aware that it's weird to be ok with putting my writing on a public forum, and even encouraging criticism, but be getting big bad belly butterflys about commenting on someone else's writing. I actually get more nervous about writing these little blurbs at the start of the chapter than I do about posting the smut I've written. What can I say, I'm nothing if not unconventional. But anyhoo, I learned a thing, and I'm pretty sure I can now do said thing. So, thanks to **Lunaschild2016** , be expecting some awkward thank you messages from me in the future, yay!_

 _~My mind is too melted from my new technological prowess to think of a good disclaimer~_

Twenty Two

She's uneasy after her first sim. She disappeared for hours and, when she came out of hiding, she was quiet. Eric worried about her. He'd told her not to make it look too easy, but Four had told him her time of half an hour looked to be her trying her best from his perspective. Four refused to say what her fear was, just that it was 'brutal on a whole new level', and an actual memory. That made her time make more sense. Knowing that you're in a simulation doesn't help you when you're reliving your worst days.

She crawled into bed with him that night and just lay on his chest. Eric didn't push, but he hated how meek and mild she was at the moment. There was little of the fire he'd become accustomed to about her right now. She went to sleep wrapped in his arms, but woke about ten minutes later, screaming. He held her tight as she called for her 'Daddy', waiting until she was fully awake before asking her if she was ok.

"I'm fine. It was just a nightmare. I'm not tired anymore, I'm gonna go work on that transmission issue for Vince, see if I can't get it fixed up by morning." She pecks him goodbye and is dressed and out the door before Eric really comprehends where she's going. He lies there for a moment, trying to make sense of her attitude change. He can't though, so he dresses and goes down to the workshop.

He watches her working for an hour or so before he falls asleep on the couch. The next thing he knew, he was being woken up by Kella so they could shower and breakfast together before training. Sometime during the night, someone had covered him with a blanket, and he'd slept quite well considering the circumstances.

Kella had not slept at all. He could tell by the way she sluggishly leant against him in the shower, not taking advantage of their nakedness and proximity as she usually would. For his part, he was content to hold her under the hot spray while her muscles slowly unknotted beneath his hands.

She was almost as quiet as she had been before she'd started talking to him, and Eric worried about her suddenly withdrawn nature. It was not like her, even when she didn't say a word, not to be the life of the party.

The rest of their weekend passes in much the same manner, and by Monday morning, Eric was about beside himself. She has to go back under simulation again today. To face a different fear, or maybe the same one. Either way, it was likely to be horrific. He kisses her passionately before they leave the apartment, trying desperately to convey some strength to her. She responds in kind, and he hopes it's enough to get her through the next sim.

His imagination runs away with him as he tries and fails to get some work done. Max walks in a little before lunch and tells him to 'Either stop moping about and get some work done, or find something useful to do.' He decides that Max is right and heads toward the simulation training rooms.

She's running out as he's walking in, so he does an about face after her. She's running like she's not going to stop, ever. He follows her, even as she leaves the compound and sets off across the city. He's glad he's had the practice at this sort of travel, or he wouldn't have a hope of keeping up. As he runs and jumps, he wonders if she's slowing down for him. She seems to be staying the exact same distance ahead of him, just out of shouting distance, so he's pretty sure she's aware of his presence.

They're heading into Erudite before she lets him catch up to her. She puts her finger to her lips and points to a new camera, Erudite must have wised up as to how they where sneaking in since last time. She gives him a half smile as she leads him in a different, more dangerous route. They skirt the outside of tall buildings, carefully sneaking past windows in the broad day light, and climb drains and gutters, until they get to the roof of Erudite's main building. She leads them through a maintenance shaft, turning at seemingly random times, until they're above a grate that looks into a familiar blue office.

Eric looks at her in amazement. Even if he had full access to all the information they'd stolen from Erudite in the past, it would've taken him a year to work out how to get into where they where now. Eric knew that, even by Erudite standards, he was remarkably clever. The woman before him was a genius though, and it was all he could do to keep from grabbing her sexy, brainy self and showing her just how gorgeous he thought her mind was.

She must've seen the look on his face, even in the low light, because she shook her head at him and pulled some equipment out of her pocket. A spy cam, a tiny microphone by the look of it, and a small wireless transmitter. She set the camera and mic up over the grate. It had wide enough gaps that she should be getting a full view of the room without interruption, but not so wide as to make the camera easy to see. It was perfect. The mic was next, and then she hooked both up to the transmitter. She carefully tapped into the electrical wires running through the duct, and hardwired all three to it. They would need to come back with a receiver to put somewhere easier to get to, as it would be the device that was doing the recording and storing, but this was a brilliant little set up for a tight space.

They both froze as Jeannine walked into the room, and Eric silently questioned the sanity of being in the Erudite leader's office ceiling in broad daylight. They where trapped now until Jeannine left the room, unable to crawl out as silently as they would need to to avoid alerting her to their presence. Kella didn't look perturbed though. She settled herself above the grate to listen in to the goings on below her, and so Eric did the same. Jeannine paced below them, clearly worked up about something. She stopped pacing and paged her secretary.

"Justin! Get in here, and bring the 'outsider' file with you." She snaps out. Justin is in the office, shutting the door behind him, in a matter of seconds. He marches quickly over to his leaders desk, depositing the huge file that he carried on the workspace.

"We're going over the case again...?" His question is tired, and Eric wonders how often they've done this in the past couple of months. A hell of a lot by the look on dear Justin's face.

"Yes. There has to be something we're missing. I was hoping that getting ahold of her simulation recordings might help me, but Max is being exceedingly difficult about that. He won't let me have them until initiation is over and she's secured her job, and that's too late to do anything. I need to know what that woman is now, before she becomes a full member of Dauntless and has their complete protection." Jeannine is spitting mad, her frustration with Max, and just who's simulations they where talking about, both as clear as crystal.

"Isn't Eric Coulter supposed to be supplying us with suspected Divergent simulations? Can't we just get him to slip hers in with those?" Eric almost snarls at Justin's implication of him in their plot.

"Eric has been rogue since he got his pips. They made him a leader and I completely lost control of him. He makes me wonder sometimes if I ever actually had control of him in the first place. It just goes to show, you can't trust a Divergent." Eric has to bite his knuckles to hold his tongue. He desperately wants to go down there and show her exactly how much control she never had over him.

Below, Jeannine sighs. "I doubt he'd be any good to us in this situation, even if he where doing his job. He's been obsessed with the little freak since the first moment he saw her. She's got him wrapped around her little finger, just like the rest of Dauntless." She snarls angrily "If I could even just get a proper blood sample. She made it so difficult while she was here to get near her that we never managed it. Even chained to the ceiling, if you took a syringe or a swab anywhere near her, she'd kick you in the head. She gave me two concussions while she was here, both times when I went to draw blood from her. I thought she was asleep the second time, and then bam... I was on the ground."

Eric bites his knuckles harder, trying not to laugh at the image in his head of Jeannine sprawled out at Kella's feet, KO'd by a flying headbutt or some such. Kella's refusal to hand over her choosing knife now makes a lot more sense to him. He'd thought she was just being a smart ass, turns out she was being a huge smart ass.

"Weren't you going to plant a backup this year? I know you where working with a kid who had a Dauntless result..."

"Tony" Jeannine cuts him off "I haven't heard from him for weeks. He was probably cut, I doubt he had what it takes to pass Dauntless initiation, he was lazy." It's Kella biting her fist this time, while Eric's face goes stoney. That traitorous little lech. Eric isn't sure he should've stopped Kella from torturing and killing the spineless little bastard now. "No, we're not going to get her by stealth, she's too smart for that, too well trained in subterfuge herself. We only got her last time because Eric told her to go with us. I don't think he realised just how strong and skilled she was at the time, but he won't make that mistake again. They'll fight, and we don't have the training to win that battle. We have to go at this head on. Offer a big enough carrot or a big enough stick to make her think that it's her only course of action. We have to make her walk through those doors of her own free will."

Eric looks over at Kella, who is exactly where Jeannine wants her to be at the moment, inside Erudite. And Jeannine doesn't have a clue. Plotting to capture someone that's already within her grasp, it's almost poetic.

They are forced to listen to another hour of Jeannine's plots before she decides she needs to research something in the library and leaves her office. Eric follows Kella out of Erudite, and walks beside her, holding her hand, until he works up the courage to ask her what's on his mind.

"Kella, what's in your sims?" The look she throws him has Eric instantly regretting his question. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I just want to help, if I can. And I figured knowing what's eating you would be a start." He looks at her hopefully as she takes a breath.

"I can barely deal with them when they're happening, and then I have nightmares. I can't talk about it, Eric, I'm sorry. I just can't." She looks so stricken that he pulls her close and forces her head into his chest with more gusto than he'd meant to use. His other arm wraps tightly around her. Maybe too tightly, but she doesn't complain. He's not sure how long he holds her, his heart beating hard and fast in his chest as a million scenarios run through his head. He seriously considers running. Just taking what they can and leaving the city. Whatever's out there could not be as bad as watching his bright and beautiful woman fade before his eyes, could it?


	24. Twenty Three

_You know how I was pretty sure I could do the whole reply thing? Well... nope. My tablet doesn't wanna do it for me._ _So I'm trying my best to PM, but I don't know how that's working either. I'm officially throwing up a white flag here people. If anyone out there is tech savvy and feels like they have the patience to attempt to teach me how to work this thing, hit me up. If not, I shall continue to communicate through these blurbs until I figure the damn thing out_ :-)

 _This one took me a little bit, but I think I'm back on a roll now. Writing Eric and Four bitching at each other always puts me in a good mood_ :-)

 _~ I own Stuart. I married him, and I put up with his shit on a daily basis, weird fish addiction and all. So he's mine to caricature however I want. :-P ~_

Twenty Three

She wakes up alone.

She's lying on a gurney in the middle of a room full of medical technology. There's a lot of machines going 'boop' and 'beep' as she scans her environment, tensing her body, ready for a fight.

There's no one there, she is alone.

She sits up warily, disconnecting wires and tubes, and pulling out cannulas as she takes inventory of her body. She seems in pretty good shape as she flexes muscles that weren't suffering too much dystrophy. She slides herself off the gurney and uses it as a crutch, making her way over to a terminal. She sits and looks at the screen, and then she starts screaming.

oOoOo

She screams again as she comes out of the sim, tears streaming down her face. Four doesn't comprehend it as she accepts his steadying hands, leaning into him and wrapping her arms around him. He knows that she's not usually a hugger, with anyone other than Eric or Rose, and she usually looks like she's going to rip his face off when she comes out of a sim. He returns her hug, rubbing his hand up and down her back in an effort to soothe her tears, hoping against hope that Eric doesn't happen to walk in right now. But he just does not fucking get it. What in Christ's name can be so scary about the date?

oOoOo

Stuart is worried about Kella. He likes to think that he's gotten to know her pretty well since she first came out to Amity, all strong silences and mischievous smiles. But ever since they started the fear sims, she's been different. She was withdrawn, not speaking and hardly even signing anything at anyone that he could see, even Rose. He knew Rose could see it too, that's why she'd decided that she needed a party. "We're all stressed, but Kella more than anyone. We need this." is what she had said to convince him. And it had... convinced him... for awhile. But watching as Kella sat at the breakfast bar and downed jar after jar of Amity whiskey, he wasn't so sure now.

He was just about to go and get Eric when the leader himself walked in, Four trailing behind him. Stuart was relieved. It had been Four that went and dobbed her in to daddy, he was not going to cop any of the blame when she sobered up.

"Alright! Initiates! Out!" Eric roars. Stuart tries to tag onto the end of the line and leave with the others, but Eric is having none of that. "Not you Amity... you stay here." Fucking brilliant. Rose didn't even try to leave. She just stood in front of Kella, staring Eric down like a pro. Sometimes Stuart wonders if the aptitude test is 100% accurate, because be fucked if he'd be that brave. If it where Rose in trouble, yeah, but not for someone he's only known for a few months.

"The fuck is going on here?" Eric's voice cuts through everyone in the room, except Kella.

"Getting shit faced together because it beats drinking alone." Kella's voice barely wavers from the alcohol running through her system. She should be well and truly dead by now, with how much she's drank. But she's just drunk, not even sloppy drunk. Just drunk. Like all the other odd things he's noticed about her, Stuart tries his best to forget he ever noticed a thing.

"Ok, fine. But did you have to do it in my apartment? I have a fucking reputation to uphold, Kella!" His voice has gone from cutting to tired in the space of a sentence. Stuart guesses that Rose and he aren't the only ones to have noticed her struggling.

"You have a reputation as a big bad arse, don't you, Eric. I had a reputation as a big bad arse once upon a time too. My reputation was just as much bullshit as yours is. We're so human, even though we try not to be, you know? You're this big, tough, emotionless machine. So they throw you in the shit. And you thrive. You dominate, you excel beyond anyone's wildest dreams. Until, one day... you don't. Shit gets too real, too quick. People you care about die, or betray you, and you're not sure which is worse. People are taken from you too soon, by monsters that should have never, ever seen the light of day. But you keep doing your job, cause you're fuckin good at it. You kill this one because they told you to, you kill that one because they got in the way, and the collateral damage piles up around you so high that you can't see three paces in front of you. And then, one day, you look in the mirror and see the truth... you've become one of the monsters. But you still feel, you still hurt, you're still human on the inside. And that's the day you die... that's the day I died." She trails off at the end, going back to her jar of Amity Amber.

"Shit, Eric. It's like they made her in a lab, just for you" Four's statement is amusing, but not as funny as Kella thinks it is. She laughs so hard that Eric has to hold her on her stool to keep her from falling. She laughs so hard that she snorts, taking great gasping breaths as she completely looses her shit. Her laughter is contagious, and soon even the ever scowling Eric is chuckling at her braying.

When she finally manages to calm herself somewhat, she gives Four a warm smile, the first smile he's seen on her face since they started the sims.

"You're funny, Four. I'm glad we're friends and I didn't kill you, you're much more amusing alive" The laughter starts back up at the look on poor Four's face. That's the thing with Kella, you're never quite sure if she's joking or not.

oOoOo

It's late and Four walking toward the fear landscape room, contemplating taking another run through it, when Eric appears out of nowhere in front of him, finger to his lips. He scares the shit out of Four. He guesses that he's been taking stalking lessons from Kella, because he was sure as hell never that quiet before. Eric turns and walks away, keeping to the shadows as he avoids the cameras. Once he would've run in the opposite direction, sure that Eric was plotting to kill him. Now he just took a deep breath and followed him, sure that no harm would befall him in Eric's company. His stomach was still in knots though, and he wondered what Kella had done now.

She had seemed lighter when he and the two ex Amitys had left the 'party'. It actually hadn't been a bad night. Eric had asked her to dance, which was something that Four had thought he would never see, and it turned out he wasn't half bad either. Then he had confessed to Kella giving him lessons and the ribbing had started, and continued intermittently, until they'd left.

And now he was following Eric into a fear sim room, curiosity burning through him. What on earth where they doing in here? Eric turns toward him.

"I need to see her fears." The look on Eric's face is hard, determined. "She can't talk about them, and I can't help her if I don't know what she's going through." Oh, this could be bad.

"Why do I have to be involved, why can't you just do it?" Four's body was still healing from the last time he had pissed Kella off, and he doubted his pride would ever recover. He was not keen for a repeat performance.

"Because you're the IT guy, so it's your job. There's a reason I don't administer the sims, I've got no fucking idea how they work. I've stayed right away from all the Erudite bullshit wherever I can. I haven't even got the passwords for the system." Four looks at him, disbelieving his excuses.

"I can give you the passwords, you know. You're a leader, so you're entitled to have them." Four's still looking for an out.

"I've stayed out of the Erudite bullshit for a reason, Four. If I don't know the passwords, I've got a legitimate excuse to not know what's going on. And if I don't know what's going on, I'm useless to Jeannine. I don't want the fucking passwords." Eric's jaw is tight as he sits down in front of the monitor. Four leans over him to set Kella's sims up.

"Fine, whatever man. This time it can be your face she breaks" Four tries to be cavalier about the whole situation, but inside, he's in panic. God he hoped it was Eric's face this time, and not his again. "You want all three we've got so far, one after the other? Or are you gonna space them out? I'd space them out if I where you. They're pretty intense."

"Hit me with all three, they're not my memories" Eric puts the headphones in, his attitude grating on Four's nerves.

"Fine" He sets it up and hits play, backing away to sit on the sim chair while Eric watches intently. He chuckles at Kella mouthing off at her father, and Four admits to himself that he did the same thing. This time though, he's tense. Even without the sound, he's bracing himself for the impact.

Eric jumps when it happens, gripping onto the arms of the chair as he watches the screen stop making sense. When it stops turning, Eric is quiet, still, focused. His breathing has picked up, and Four can see the tension in his shoulders. Eric continues to watch as Kella begs every diety know to man, and that's when his shoulders start to shake. She begs for a long time, and Four watches as Eric's immovable facade crumbles around him, leaving the raw man exposed. Tears are flowing freely down his face by the time the EMT's sedate her. As the screen goes black, he puts his head in his hands and stills. Four knows he's trying to get a grip on himself.

"I warned you that it was brutal" Four's voice is quiet, a hush that he is not comfortable breaking having descended upon the room. "Do you still want to do the others right away?"

"A moment" Eric's voice breaks "Give me a moment" His voice is muffled by his hands, and his shoulders tremble with the emotion he's trying to rein in. Four watches the struggle, thinking how no one would believe him if he told them that Fearless Eric was brought to his knees by someone else's sim. After a few minutes, he pulls his head up and straightens his shoulders.

"Next one?" Four enquires. Eric's brief nod is more like himself again, his chin held at it's usual arrogant angle.

Four settles in on the sim chair again after setting up Kella's next fear for Eric. He tries not to watch the screen at all, remembering how his stomach had turned after the last time he had seen the blood and gore play out across the screen. But it's hard, and Four finds his eyes drawn to the terrible scene before him. Eric jumps again when the incendiary bombs hit their marks, just as Four does. But it's not until Kella drives her knife into her friends heart that Eric drops his head into his hands again. He's breathing hard as the screen fades to black in front of him, and Four gives him the time he needs to get his shit together.

"You where right about her" Four's voice is just as quiet as it was after the last sim "She's a proper soldier. She's fought harder than any of us have ever had to."

"I could see it written all over her, even on the camera outside the fence. She walks like a soldier, moves like one. And she's got that darkness in her eyes, even when she's happy. She told me once that the atrocities of war are not the real problem. It's when you survive the war and then have to live with what you've done to survive, that's what fucks you." Eric's voice is hollow as he explains himself. "She'd learned to live with her past, but now she has to relive all her worst moments. She's going to have to learn to live with the blood on her hands all over again." Eric takes a deep breath "I don't know if I can sit through another one like that. You said her last one was short?"

"Um, yeah" He leans over Eric again to set up Kella's last known fear "It's really weird. It seemed to bother her the most, but it just confused the living shit outa me. She even hugged me, she was that bothered by it." Eric growls "Dude, seriously. She scares me more than you do, I am so not going there."

"You wouldn't know what to do with her anyway. One fuck from her and a tall drink of water, you'd drop dead from a heart attack." Eric's tone is cocky, as usual, and it grates on Four's last nerve.

"One day I'm gonna tell her that you said that, and she's gonna..."

"She's gonna agree with me" Eric cuts in, smirking.

"Still a fucking asshole at heart." Four mumbles as he presses play on the last sim.

Four watches Eric watch the sim, both of them quite relaxed compared to the other two sims. Until Kella looks at the date and freaks out, then Eric scoots his chair backward and mutters a string of curses.

"What?" Eric's behaviour is unsettling Four almost as much as Kella's did.

"The date, the fucking date! It was three years ago Four! She woke up alone, three years ago." Four still doesn't get the big deal, and Eric must be able to see that from his expression. "Which means she was on her own for two fucking years, Four. And she saw the date and screamed. How long was she sleeping for? How long would you have to be sleeping for to have that sort of reaction? How many years? How many decades? Centuries maybe?" Eric's wide eyes drilled into Four "What is she?"


	25. Twenty Four

_I'm sorry people. I had hubby home for a week and my routine was non existent for that time. Trying my best to get back into some form of rhythm, but this one is a bit short. It does, however, give you some answers, so yay for that_ :-)

 _Smut Warning for the whole chapter._

 _~smart arse disclaimer~_

Twenty Four

Eric storms into the apartment, slamming the door behind him as he stomps into the bedroom. She's lying in the bed looking at him without any surprise whatsoever as he stands in front of her, panting.

"You watched my sims" It's a simple statement, but it holds the weight of centurys of pain, and now Eric knows it.

"How long where you sleeping?" His quiet, tight, tone conveys all the tension in his body, but none of the fear that is clawing at his stomach.

"You're a very clever boy, Eric. Four didn't get it, you know. He just looked at me like I was crazy." She sighs "Maybe I am crazy, I shouldn't have gone anywhere near this city in the first place. And I definitely shouldn't have started anything with you..." Eric lost it. He was across the room in two great strides and had the tops of her arms in his hands in the next heartbeat. She looked at him calmly as he dragged her out of the bed and shook her slightly.

"Don't! Don't you fucking dare say that shit to me! You belong here, in Dauntless, with me! You're fucking mine!" He tries to prove his point, smashing their faces together in a hard, searing kiss, trying to show her what he's having trouble putting words to. She responds to him immediately, pushing back into him just as hard, just as desperately as he was pushing into her. He claims her mouth, possessing her as fully as he can while he moves his arms around under her arms to encircle her. He tangles his hands in the hair at the back of her head while she wraps her arms around his neck and grips his hair tightly.

He pulls his face back slightly to take a breath and whispers to her lips "You're mine." She shakes her head

"Eric" her voice is hoarse with unshed tears "I slept for four hundred years."

"Shhh" he tries to hush her with his lips, but she pulls back

"For Christ's sake Eric! I'm five hundred and fifty! Don't you think I might be a bit old for you?" She's bordering on hysterical now, but Eric feels a strange calm wash over him.

"No" he says simply, dragging her face back to his and kissing her again, deeply. She moans into his mouth, but he hears frustration in the noise, not surrender. He pulls back to look in her eyes. "I don't care, Kella. I don't give a shit how old you are. You. Are. Mine!" He lowers one of his hands and shoves it under her long shirt, pushing her dripping underwear out of the way to claim her pussy with his fingers. He's not gentle as he fucks her with three digits, just about lifting her up by her nether regions.

"Fuck! God! Fuck! Eric! I'm not even human! Oh God!" He doesn't let up, hitting her front wall so hard that she visibly lifts with every stroke.

"Doesn't matter, you're mine!" He gives one last, hard push and she comes undone around his fingers, soaking his hand as she stares, wide eyed and open mouthed, silently screaming in blissful agony. There's tears streaming down her face, and Eric knows that he'll never see anything more beautiful than this woman's face as he makes her cum, knowing that he's causing her to lose herself so completely.

He doesn't let her recover. Instead, he tears her shirt off over her head and pushes her down on her hands and knees in front of him, ripping her underwear off like it offended him. He only pulls his jeans down as far as he needs to so he can thrust inside her, filling her with one swift movement while he growls "Mine!" She moans, long and loud, at the intrusion. He grips her hips hard as he pulls out slowly, loving the whine her voice gets when she's frustrated. She's not quite begging him yet, but she's going to. He slams into her again, hard, and growls "This is where you belong..." she whines again as he slowly drags out of her "...on the end of my cock!" She screams a little as he thrusts into her again, and on the next outward stroke, she starts begging.

"Please! Oh God, Eric... Please! I need you! Please!" A feral grin breaks across his face as she pleads, this is what he was waiting for.

He starts making shallow, slow thrusts, drawing out the torture. "Who do you belong to Kella?" His voice is soft and even, but there's an undercurrent off tension running through it. Her answer here matters to him.

"Yours, Eric! I'm yours." That's what he wants to hear.

"And where do you belong?" This one matters even more.

"On the end of your cock! I belong on the end of your cock! I'm yours! Please, Eric! I'm yours!" Good. Now he just needed to make sure she remembered it.

She squeaked when he withdrew from her. He flipped her over, placing her on her back in the middle of the bed. He grabbed one of her legs and placed it over his shoulder, pushing himself back home as he covered her. He devoured her mouth while he dug his thumb in along her stretched out thigh, applying pressure behind her knee while she squirmed underneath him. She was moaning into his mouth as he moved hard and deep inside her, his free hand moving to her throat and applying enough pressure to be felt, but not enough to block her airway. He pulled his head back and watched as her eyes started rolling back into her head, knowing that this was the moment. He felt her tighten around him, her second climax coming on strong and leading to his own. His words are strangled as she cums around him, but still very recognisable.

"I love you" He lets go as her eyes fly open and tears start streaming from them. "I love you, Kella, I love you! I love you!" His moans are almost painful as he pours himself into her, gripping her leg and throat tightly, trying desperately to hold onto her and fuck the consequences.

"Eric" her whisper is broken as she continues to clench around him, holding onto his shoulders for dear life.

He collapses onto her, burying his head in it's spot, right in the crook of her neck. He lets go of both her throat and her leg, wrapping his arms around her head and face, holding her as close to him as he can manage. His tears are falling freely down her neck, as are hers as he whispers his broken mantra in her ear, over and over.

"I love you, I love you, I love you..."

oOoOo

They wake up tangled in each other, having both passed out at some point during the nights activities. Eric groans as she starts moving in his arms, knowing that the time of reckoning is upon them.

"Eric" Her voice is soft, a little croaky, and sexy as hell.

"Hmmm?" Maybe if he feigns still being half asleep he can hold onto her for a bit longer before he has to think about anything too hard.

"Eric..." her voice is firmer this time, fuck it. He gropes at her and pulls her tighter to him, slowly pressing his hips onto her. Maybe he can distract her.

"Eric, I know what you're doing. I can hear your thoughts going 'All this emotional crap is just too fucking hard, so I'm gonna try and distract her with my big, fat cock'" He snorts into her neck at her impression of his deep voice and she moans a little.

"Is it working?" His voice is husky, dripping with seduction.

"Yes, it is" She moans again "But we really, really, need to talk about shit, Eric."

"I talk better with my hands" His fingers find her slit and start working inside her just the way she likes it.

"Fuck, Eric, please! You need to know what I am! What I've done! Oh God!" Her eyes roll back into her head as he works her sweet spot hard.

"So tell me what you are while I make you cum. And then you can tell me all about it while I make love to you. 'Cause it's not going to change anything, not for me." She's right on the brink, clawing at his back and leaving gouge marks with her claws when she gives in.

"I'm a siren! Oh fuck! Oh God! I'm a siren!" Her head is thrown back in excruciating extacy as her body goes taut beside him.

She recovers quickly and throws him onto his back before she straddles him, taking him inside her slowly as they both sigh in relief. She moves her hips back and forward slowly, sliding his cock in and out as she rides him gently.

"I'm a siren. They made me, the military did. They changed my body, my voice, my everything. I couldn't sing a bar before they got ahold of me, now I can make grown men weep with a song. They made me to be alluring. Everything I am is a result of many calculated genetic enhancements to make you want me, and to make me deadlier than sin. I'm small, so I'm perceived as non threatening, but I'm fast and strong, so I'm lethal. I'm beautiful so people let me get close enough to them to rip their throats out before they've even registered that I'm a threat. I'm the perfect assassin. No one ever suspects the bubbly little blonde with the big boobs." She's still riding him gently, and Eric grasps her hips, helping her hit harder, deeper, but still slowly.

"I'd let you kill me," he responds truthfully "but not because of your 'enhancements'." he leers at her breasts as he speaks and she grabs ahold of his jaw, pulling his face upward with a smirk "I'd let you kill me because you're are the best person I've ever met. You're beautiful, in here," he pokes her chest above her heart "as well at out here." he squeezes her breast, causing her to wiggle. "You're smart and loyal and brave, and I'd rather die than live in a world where you didn't want me".

She crashes her mouth to his, hands scratching at his shoulders as she picked up the pace, riding him relentlessly. He can't do anything but hang onto her hips as she writhes on top of him like a snake, moving her body in just the right way to make them both loose their minds. They cum together, both crying out wordless, desperate noises of pleasure and emotion.

She collapses onto him as the strain leaves her body, and he holds her tight against him. She looks exhausted, curled into him with her eyes closed and lips slightly parted. Just before she slipped into sleep, she whispers "I love you too." And Eric is at peace.


	26. Twenty Five

_I'm sorry people, I really do want to write faster. It's all there in my head, it's just getting the time to exorcise the demon that is Kella Esarosa. I haven't had the time to try and decipher the inner workings of the fan fiction. com app, preferring to spend what little time I have writing rather than swearing like a sailor at my tablet. Thank you **Lunaschild2016** for giving me somewhere to start, I'll have a look when time permits._

 _~Blah, I'm getting too lazy for disclaimers~_

Twenty Five

Four observed Kella as she walked into his sim room, Eric trailing close behind her. She looked... better. A lot better than she had been looking since sims had started. Her colour had come back, banishing the grey, waxy look that had dominated her features. Her eyes where bright and sharp, the bags under them all but gone. Her step was light and quick, and the cheeky grin that Four had been missing was back on her face.

"You manage to get some sleep Kell?" Four's question was redundant and he knew it, but the difference in her appearance and behaviour was so startling, he just had to comment on it.

"Mmmm hmmm" was the only answer he received as she popped herself up on the table, baring her neck for the needle in his hand. He looked at Eric as he prepared the injection site, observing the tightness in his neck as he brushed Kella's little flyaway hairs away and gently cleaned her skin with an alcohol wipe. The wipe cleared away the make-up on her neck, revealing the darkest love bite that Four had ever seen, complete with teeth marks. He raised an eyebrow at Eric.

"Sleep's not all you got I see" he hadn't thought that one through before he said it, but Kella's bell like laugh and Eric's smirk showed that they where both clearly in a good mood. "Ready?" Kella's firm nod is a lot more promising than her previous apprehensive reaction to even the mention of simulations, and Four takes that as a good sign. "Be brave" he says quietly as he injects her with the serum. He watches as she fades away, eyelids fluttering and all her muscles going slack as she goes under.

"Heart rate's good so far, what one have we got." If Four was forced at gunpoint, he'd say that Eric was more worried than Kella. But since no one had a gun to his head, he'd keep the fact that Eric was now sweating bullets and jumpy as a barnyard cat to himself. He looks to the screen and sighs.

"Looks like we get to watch her dole out a mercy killing again, she's on the run through the same fields as last time." They watch her run for a couple of moments before Eric speaks, breaking the tension that had been quickly building in the room.

"I wonder how many times she had to do that... end someone's life for their own sake that is. She's seen so much war, she'd have to have done it more than once. I wonder why it's this one in particular she relives." Eric's musings confused Four a little, how did he know how much war she'd seen? Had she been talking again and he'd missed it? He decided that it wasn't worth pushing the question at the moment, he'd wait until things settled down.

"Maybe he was her first mercy kill, or she was really close to him? Maybe he was a lover?" Eric snarled and Four snorted "C'mon man, you know she had lovers before you. If you're right about her age, she's probably had a lot." Four studies Eric's reaction, the reddening of his cheeks and the way he looked away... something had definitely happened here. "Did you ask her how old she was?" Four's question is quiet and as non threatening as he can make it. Eric sighs and nods slowly. "How old?" The young leader suddenly looks much older than his twenty two years.

"Old" is Eric's monosyllabic response.

"That was a well thought out and informative response, thankyou so much for that plethora of information." Four had been hanging around Eric too much, he was starting to pick up some of his habits. It worked though, the corner of Eric's mouth turned up slightly.

"It's not my place to tell you, she will when she's ready. I will say this though. She was a brunette once, and now all her hair is bone white. Use your brain for once, doofus."

They're interrupted by Kella's heart rate spiking much higher than it had done last time. They both looked to the monitor and froze. The man she was about to stab kept changing. He went through ten or more faces that Four didn't recognize before it hit one that he did know, and know very well. It was his own face, screaming up at him in agony from the monitor before him. His own familiar features then morphed into Stuart's. From Stuart he changed to Rose, her eyes wilder than he had ever seen them in real life. And then suddenly he was looking at Eric's face. Kella's heart rate went through the roof. If he didn't do something soon, she'd go into cardiac arrest. He lunged for the emergency stop, but Eric grabbed ahold of him.

"No, she can take it. She can do it." His face is focused on the screen as Kella pushes her knife between Eric's ribs.

The cry that leaves Kella's mouth as she comes out of the sim is a haunting mixture of grief and anger, with the added bonus of making both Four and Eric's noses bleed. It doesn't slow Eric though. He lunges at the distraught woman and wraps her tightly in his embrace while he talks quietly in her ear. Four can't hear what he's saying, but he gets the feeling that the words don't matter as much as the tone of voice. A sob wracks her body as she grabs ahold of Eric's face, now noticing the blood dripping from his nostril. She lets out a cry of alarm and wipes the blood away, a litany of apologies leaving her lips at the speed of sound. Eric shakes his head and runs his hands through her hair in a soothing gestures. She kisses him then, wildly and desperately, running her hands all over him as if to reassure herself that he was really in her arms. By the time they break apart, Four is close enough to hear her whispers.

"I had to kill you, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry my love. I wouldn't be able to... I... I couldn't do it." Eric shushes her and holds her tight against himself, looking over her head at Four. The worried look on his face says it all.

"Kella, we need to talk..."

oOoOo

"A fuckin' what now?" Four's having trouble getting his brain to work as Kella smiles understandingly at him. They're having a 'driving lesson'. Since Kella already knows how to drive, they're joyriding through the city in the truck she had fixed up for herself. She'd done lots of modifications that Four didn't comprehend and she was testing them out. Four and Eric are sitting in the bench seat in the front of the cab with Kella, Four hanging on to the panic bar above the passenger side window for dear life, and Eric glaring menacingly out the windscreen from between them. Kella absently reaches between Eric's legs to change gears and his scowl deepens.

"A siren, Four. I'm a siren." Kella's face is kind as she waits for his questions.

"Shouldn't you have a tail?" Is all Four can think to ask. Kella laughs her beautiful laugh and even Eric cracks a smile, his crooked grin lightening up his face.

"No, I don't have a tail. I'm a siren, not a mermaid, although I do swim quite well." She gives him a cheeky grin, sticking her tongue between her teeth as she keeps one eye on the 'road'.

"How? Why?...How?... Have you always been a siren? Where your parents sirens? How? Just how?"

"Ok, ok. Let me explain. Mum and Dad weren't sirens, and I haven't always been a siren. I was a soldier, first up. I was good though, SAS; what you yanks would call special forces. I was the first woman allowed in the SAS. They code named me 'White Wolf' because of my name." She appears wistful as she drives effortlessly over the rough terrain, barely paying attention to where they're going. Four tightens his grip on the panic bar.

"Then I got hurt. Bad, real bad. I'd pulled off the impossible for the Australian and Brittish governments more than once, and they'd fixed me up every time I broke. But this time it was different. I'd gotten caught up in a fire, and even the inside of my throat was burnt. I was gonna die anyway, so they took me to a lab in Russia, and they gave me a rebuild." She snorts before she continues. "They figured while they where rebuilding me, they'd make me as dangerous as they possibly could. I mean, this is the Russians we're talking about here. The only people crazier are the Aussies." Her whole body radiates nonchalance, except for her knuckles, which where white where they grip the steering wheel. "They made me faster, stronger, more beautiful than before. They fucked around with my genes so badly trying to save me, that they made something new. They didn't know what to call me. They knew I wasn't human anymore, but I still looked human on the outside. They seriously considered 'Time Lord' for awhile, because of the two hearts, but..." Four can't sit quietly anymore, and he cuts in over the top of her.

"Two hearts? You have two hearts!?" His shocked expression is mirrored in Eric's face, he guesses he didn't know that one either. Kella nods at him absently and takes a breath to move on, but Four cannot just leave it at that. "Two hearts? Seriously? How the fuck did we miss that?" She sighs at him before she answers.

"I turned one off whenever anyone was checking my heart rate" She explained calmly. Eric got a funny look on his face and she preempted his question "Yes, that is why my heart sounds different after we have sex. I can't control it when my whole body feels like jelly."

"Ok, wow, that was a bit much Kell. Continue on with anything other than yours and his sex life, please" Four shuddered slightly as a small flashback of Kella and Eric in the hallway played over in his mind. Kella giggled and continued her narrative.

"So, where was I? Two hearts, Time Lord, right. But then they heard me sing, and they decided that 'Siren' was a much better fit for my species. And so they did, classify me as a separate species I mean. Not officially of course, officially I died in the fire. But, unofficially, I'm a brand new species of humanoid. They burned away most of my humanity, and made me anew." She takes a deep breath before she continues. "I was a bit... unstable... to start with, but I got better. And then they sent me back into the field. It was another ten years before they realised that I wasn't aging."

"So how did you end up on your own" Eric finally speaks, but it's barely above a whisper.

"I got in another tight spot, in Europe again. There was an incident with a nuclear reactor. I contained the blast, but it cost me. I wasn't able to get out of the hot zone in time, and my body was flooded with radiation. I was fucked, again. I was dying, and I was highly radioactive. They decided to put me in a hole. They put me in what they called a 'Cinderella sleep', apparently that's the technical term. They where basically going to keep me on life support until the radiation deteriorated. When you're immortal, you've got the time to do that." She smirked as Four balked. "I was supposed to be transported back to Australia and put in an underground bunker they where gonna build for me. But something went down in Aus and they decided it wasn't safe. So they built the bunker here, believing that America was more stable." She smirks again. "Thing is, from what I can work out, the whole fucking world went mad while I was sleeping. And they forgot about me." The last part is whispered so quietly, Four barely hears it. What he does get, loud and clear, is the look of devastation on her face as she remembers how she had saved the world, only to be forgotten in time.


	27. Twenty Six

**So, excuses are like assholes, and I don't really have one anyway. All I'll say is that I'm gonna try harder than I have been to get this story finished for you guys. Even my husband's been giving me shit for a couple of months now, calling me George RR whenever the topic comes up. I have not abandoned the story, I think about it all the time. I was just suffering from some block that I sure hope is gone now. Thankyou so much to anyone who is still reading for being patient with my lazy arse, I hope you like the rest of the story xx**

Twenty Six

Kella is bouncing on the balls of her feet as she waits for Eric to explain what's going on to the rest of the initiates, easily having put two and two together.

"So... You're all wondering what we've dragged your sorry arses out of bed for? The answer is, War Games." There was an excited chatter going through the Dauntless born, but Eric silenced them with an icey glance. "Capture The Flag is a Dauntless tradition as old as cake; as old as Dauntless itself. It is taken very seriously, so shut the fuck up and listen carefully. You will be split evenly into two teams, Four and I will be your captains. Each team will hide a flag. The objective is to protect that flag, while also capturing the other teams flag. Weapon of choice? Automatic training rifles and neuro stim darts."

"How do they work?" It's an Erudite transfer... it's always an Erudite transfer. Eric doesn't hesitate to show the nosey bastard how they work. He squeals like a stuck pig as the dart hits his leg.

"Simulates a real gunshot. All the pain, with none of the mess. Lasts a few minutes, then you're right as rain" The Erudite transfer is still rolling around crying and Eric is tempted to just kick the whiney little bastard out of the moving train. Four must've guessed his intentions, because he steps in front of Eric and continues explaining.

"While this is a very important Dauntless tradition, it's also held at this stage of your training for a good reason. By now, you're all a bit worse for wear from your sims. A game of Capture the Flag is just the thing to cheer you up and keep you going for the rest of initiation. Give you a taste of what it means to be Dauntless" Four's cheery attitude grates on Eric. Just because the smart arsed prick had won capture the flag every year since initiation, didn't mean he had to be a cocky bastard about it.

"Right. You can pick first" Eric tries to act nonchalant as Four looks him up and down.

"Yeah, right. I'm not that stupid. You pick first, we'll jump first." Eric almost sighs in relief. Not that stupid is right, he'd have killed the smart arse prick if he'd taken his girl.

"I'll take the psycho." Eric watches as Kella bounces toward him, grinning like a maniac. His mood picks up slightly, he was in with a chance this year. They continue on through the Dauntless borns, divvying them up while bickering at each other. Eric is pleased with who he has managed to snag, Kella and Josh being first and foremost in his mind. It's when they start sorting out the transfers that Four throws a curveball at him.

"I want Rose" Well... shit. The stiff was a step ahead of him again.

"Fine. Stuart." Eric tries to keep the sour look off of his face, but knows he's failing as he looks into Four's grinning eyes. Kella pouts beside him and he is suddenly less sure of himself. They finish dividing up the transfers and Four is herding his mob off the train before Eric can gather his wits. He knows roughly where Four will be headed and curses as he realises he's on the back foot from the start... again.

"Everybody out!" Eric bellows and jumps at the same time, not bothering to make sure that his squad follows him. If they can't jump off the damn train by now, they don't deserve to be here. He runs a couple of paces as he lands and turns to see Kella and Stuart jumping out last, having stayed behind to make sure the rest of the group made the jump. She's scowling as she lopes toward him, and he wonders if it's him she's pissed at. He doesn't have to wonder long as she jogs straight past him without waiting for instruction, the rest of the squad following, either out of respect, or fear; he wasn't sure which at this point in time.

Eric's mood darkens further as he follows the gaggle of teenagers, who are trailing quietly behind the obviously highly trained soldier. She makes no move to form them up or direct them in any way, and still they follow her as meekly as if she had roared them into submission. She was a natural leader, he had known that already, but seeing her in action was a different story. He wasn't sure if he was envious of or turned on by her quiet domination, and his scowl deepens as he struggles internally with that realisation.

The initiates turn toward him when Kella stops at the foot of a rather large tree in a park not far from the Navy Pier. She points up and raises a questioning eyebrow at Eric.

"Josh, take the flag and a few boxes of ammo, and get up that tree. You shoot anyone that comes near you. Got me?" Eric's orders are clipped and harsh, but Josh doesn't even flinch. He's shimmying up the tree before Eric can even turn to the rest of his squad. The thought passes through Eric's mind that Josh was a damn good soldier already, and he filed the information away for later contemplation as he started issuing more orders.

"You five Dauntless Born, take defensive positions in trees around that one. Make sure you've got plenty of cover and keep it tight, I don't want any holes in our defenses. The rest of you are with me; make a noise and I'll string you up. Stuart, you bring up the rear, watch our tails. Kella, scout ahead toward the Navy Pier, but dont let them see you. Report straight back as soon as you get their position." The five Dauntless Born scurry toward the trees with a quick 'Sir' to their leader. Stuart grunts his comprehension and starts herding the cannon fodder forward, while Kella nods and disapears into the night like a mist.

They move out with Eric in the lead, and it doesn't take long for Kella to drop back in, leaping down from a fire escape and startling everyone but Eric.

 _too late. Carousel_ * is her report, and Eric curses violently. They quicken the pace, double timing it straight toward the Navy Pier.

They start taking fire just before they hit the pier proper, scattering and diving for whatever cover they can find. Panic blooms in his chest as Eric realises that he can't see Kella, and it all happens very quickly from there. Eric makes a break for the Carousel, hoping for a clear run, but takes two darts to the chest before he can get within 30 meters of it. The pain drops him momentarily and Kella appears beside him in an instant. She drags him to cover and then quickly rips the darts out. Eric breaths a sigh of relief as the pain starts dissipating and he turns to his savior.

"Kella, the flag, run!" He gasps out as soon as he can speak. He watches the look of annoyance cross her face just before she turns her face from him and toward the carousel.

As she moves out from behind their cover, one of Four's Transfers fires five rounds into her shoulder and chest from almost point blank. She grunts quietly as the first one hits, and by the time the last one sticks in her collarbone, she's turned to face her attacker. Eric can see her expression from where he sits against the wall, and it sends a trickle of fear straight into his gut. Her face is cold, devoid of any emotion. Her eyes pierce straight through the ex Erudite that shot her, and he freezes like a dear caught in headlights. She reaches out and disarms him with a simple flick of her wrist, throwing the automatic rifle to hang over her shoulder by it's strap, and shoving her hand in his pockets, divesting him of his extra ammo while she's at it. The poor kid drops to his knees before her as she removes the darts quickly and without fuss, and strides away toward the carousel without a backward glance.

Eric reaches out and grabs a hold of the trembling initiate, dragging him around the corner by his collar, pulling his face close to his own.

"What did you see?" Eric puts every ounce of menace he possesses into the question, and the initiate turns from white to green as he shakes his head frantically.

"Nothing! I saw nothing Sir! Nothing at all!" Eric let's go of the crumbling coward and slumps as a flare lights up in the direction of the park where they had left their flag. Kella had been right, they where too late, and Four had beaten him once again.

oOoOo

"You could have made it" Eric's snarl echoes menacingly through the alley he had dragged Kella into as soon as they had been able to slip away from the rest of the group. "There is no fucking way you where even trying!" Kella's face remains impassive as Eric feels the heat rise to his. "I've seen you move at least twice as fast as that when we've been running over to Erudite. What the fuck happened Esarossa?"

"Where you born this fucking arrogant, or did you have to take lessons?" Kella's venomous tone gives Eric pause for a moment, and a moment is all Kella needs to turn the situation on it's head. "What the fuck makes you think I wasn't trying. I was trying... trying not to give away the fact that I'm not as human as I look! It's just a bloody game, Eric! Do I mean so little to you that you'd condemn me to a life of torture and torment for the sake of a bloody game? What the fuck is wrong with you? You storm Erudite to save me from that wretched woman, and then you want to give her all the excuses she needs to lock me up forever and a day? The fuck, Eric?" Eric felt himself grow smaller and smaller as Kella's righteous anger penetrated through his tenacious arrogance. By the time she had finished her tirade, there where tears in his eyes. He blinked them away hurriedly as he stepped toward her with his hands out in a non threatening manner.

"Kella..." is all he manages to whisper before her eyes flash and she continues.

" You may be my superior in this farce you call a faction, and I may allow you to dominate me in the bedroom... but don't you ever, dare think that gives you any actual authority or power over me. I play by human rules for the most part because it makes my life easier, but I am still a centuries old mythical creature that could pull your spine out your arse quicker than you could blink. Don't ever forget that again." Eric watches as she turns on her heel and takes a running leap up the nearest wall. She scales the building with so much grace of movement that it takes Eric's breath away. It takes no time at all for her to disapear from his sight. When even her scent has dissipated from his presence, he sank to the ground and let the shame wash over him as he cried harder than he could ever remember crying.


	28. Twenty Seven

**I'm back in the swing of things... I hope...**

 ** _~Forgot the smart arse disclaimer last time because it'd been so long that I forgot how to fanfiction~_**

Twenty Seven

Four watches an excited Kella bounce as Eric explains why they where all on a train in the middle of the night instead of being in their beds sleeping.

"So... You're all wondering what we've dragged your sorry arses out of bed for? The answer is, War Games." Four would've let them chatter between themselves a bit longer, to build up excitement and adrenaline. Eric had a different method of setting adrenalin running through the initiates veins. The ice in his glare was enough to shut them all up and get their hearts pumping at the same time. "Capture The Flag is a Dauntless tradition as old as cake; as old as Dauntless itself. It is taken very seriously, so shut the fuck up and listen carefully. You will be split evenly into two teams, Four and I will be your captains. Each team will hide a flag. The objective is to protect that flag, while also capturing the other teams flag. Weapon of choice? Automatic training rifles and neuro stim darts."

"How do they work?" Four flinched before the shot even went off, he knew it was coming.

"Simulates a real gunshot. All the pain, with none of the mess. Lasts a few minutes, then you're right as rain" Eric looks like he's had about enough of the teens already, so Four steps forward and takes over instruction.

"While this is a very important Dauntless tradition, it's also held at this stage of your training for a good reason. By now, you're all a bit worse for wear from your sims. A game of Capture the Flag is just the thing to cheer you up and keep you going for the rest of initiation. Give you a taste of what it means to be Dauntless" Four tries to make up for Eric's sour disposition by being as pleasant as he can be.

"Right. You can pick first" Yeah, right.

"Yeah, right. I'm not that stupid. You pick first, we'll jump first."

"I'll take the psycho." The rest of the Dauntless Born are divided between them while they take lighthearted jabs at each other. Then they start on the transfers.

"I want Rose" Four was thinking of how fast the little ex amity could scale a tree and almost missed the sour look cross Eric's face

"Fine. Stuart." Four grins at him as he realises he just unintentionally screwed with Eric's plans. Four gets his squad off the train as quick as he can without anyone hurting themselves. He takes off at a jog with the rest trailing behind him as soon as he's clear of the train. This year's capture the flag was going to be fun.

oOoOo

Four debated about comforting the broken man on the ground for a full five minutes before he skirted around him and went to hunt his better half down. He knew, as soon as they disappeared from the main group, that they'd be having a row. He'd made sure the rest of them got on the train, then doubletimed it back to where he'd noticed them split. It didn't take long to find Eric. When he'd first noticed the sound of broken sobbing, he'd headed away from it, thinking that there was no way Eric would be able to stand that noise without shooting the person that was making said racket. He faltered, however, when he heard a familiar frustrated yell in between sobs.

And so, there he was, looking down at Eric's somehow shrunken form, rocking and crying on the ground in an alley. He could've stopped and tried to comfort him, but he was pretty sure he deserved the misery he was suffering at the moment. And he doubted he would be well recieved anyway. So he set out to find Kella.

It didn't take long. She was three buildings over, on the roof of course, staring at the sky. He looked up at her from the alley below and sighed.

"Please don't make me come up there to talk to you. I really don't do so well with heights..." his words where spoken more to himself than her, as she was about five stories above him, but that didn't seem to stop her hearing him. She stood up, wiped her face, and monkeyed down the rickety fire escape to land softly in front of him.

"Is heights one of your four fears then?" She surprises him with her insight.

"Yes, actually, it is." Four doesn't ask how she knew, he just puts it down as another of her quirks. "What where you doing all the way up there anyway?"

"Listening to Eric" Her voice is strained, and it's obvious she'd been crying too. "I don't want any of the factionless taking advantage of him when he's not paying attention to his surroundings." Her answer doesn't surprise Four in the slightest.

"Why don't you just go see him and work it out?"

"I was too angry. I said some things that I regret."

"I'm sure he deserved them."

"He did. I still wish I hadn't said them though." Her sheepish smile is enough for Four to see that she's calmed down enough from whatever the rash leader had said to her to make her flip her lid. It must've been bad for him to actually feel guilty over it, Eric doesn't usually concern himself with such emotions.

"C'mon, Kella. Let's go put the sore loser out of his misery." She smiles a cheeky half smile at him as he wraps his arm around her and gently guides her back to where Eric is still slumped on the ground.

"He hem" Four's loud throat clearing doesn't seem to affect Eric in the slightest. He just continued to cry in deep, wracking sobs that had to hurt his chest, surely.

"Eric..." Kella's whisper, however, had the attention of his icey blue eyes immediately.

"Kella" the name is spoken as a prayer, a rosary that he repeats softly while stumbling toward the object of his worship. Four steps to the side as Eric gets closer, not wanting to be in the middle of things if they go pear shaped. From this angle, he can see the tears running down Kella's cheeks like rain, and he wonders how much longer the stubborn woman would've stayed away if he hadn't come to find her.

"I'm sorry. So sorry..." that's all Four catches of Eric's apology as he reaches her, buries his head in her hair and continues to mumble. Eric's arms are wrapped around the little woman so tight that Four is a little worried about Kella's ribs. Kella's not much better though, holding Eric's head to her like he's going to disapear at any moment.

Four figures that they're as alright as they'll ever be in this fucked up world and backs away quietly, before he see's anything that warrants bathing his brain in bleach to rid himself of the memory.

oOoOo

Two days later, Four is sneaking back into the compound as Kella is sneaking out. They nod at each other in passing, both aware that, while this tunnel isn't wired for picture, it is most certainly wired for sound. Four walks another fifty steps or so before he thinks to question Kella leaving Dauntless on her own. Usually, either himself or Eric went with her when she went exploring. He wasn't sure if Eric was aware of her wandering around the city on her own, and she had been wearing her fatigues and webbing, which was suspicious as all hell. He had two choices. He _could_ go and find Eric and dobb her in like he had with the party, and possibly cop another broken nose when she found out he had dogged her again. Or, he _could_ tail her, and possibly end up with another broken nose when she realised he was following her. The fact that, if he went straight to Eric, he wouldn't know where she was going was what decided it for him in the end, and he turned around and headed back the way he had come.

He followed her all the way to Erudite, all the while hoping that she was just passing by on her way somewhere else. Four watched her walk straight through the front door with a heavy heart, then turned around and ran like the wind back to Dauntless.

oOoOo

"Why the hell didn't you stop her?" Eric's roar went straight through Four's head. "You where there! Right fucking there! Why, Dumbass? Why would you let her walk in there like that? Why would she do that? Why wouldn't she tell me what she was planning? Why? Dammit, why?" Eric's voice quieted the more he spoke, until he was hissing at Four and Stuart in the front seat of the truck Kella had modified. In the back was a squad, and behind them a troupe of trucks full of Dauntless soldiers.

"She's too damn fast to catch. S'not Four's fault, man. She's doin' what she needs to do." Stuart is a man of few words, and today is no exception. He goes straight back to staring out the window with the same forlorn expression he'd been wearing before he'd spoken.

"But why didn't she tell me, Tobias?" The sound of his birth name startled Four out of his worried stupor. He whipped his head around to look at Eric in the driver's seat. He seemed so out of it, he wasn't sure he'd even realised what he'd actually said. He didn't have time to ponder more though, they turned a corner and the road in front of them ended suddenly at an Erudite road block.

"The fuck!?" The confusion in Eric's tone is completely gone with his next statement. "Fuck it! We're going through it or over it, but we're getting to Erudite!" Four turns and opens up the window to the back of the truck, but Eric starts yelling before he can draw the breath to warn the soldiers in the rear. "Buckle up, Bitches! Shit's about to go sideways!" Four grips the straps Kella had installed above his head as Stuart grabs the passenger side panic bar with both hands.

Four isn't quite sure how they do it, but they half crash through, half climb over the barricade and end up on the other side, more or less in one piece.

"Someone's been paying attention to Kella's lessons" Four mutters as he swallows his stomach back down to where it's meant to be. Eric's manic, feral grin scares Four more that his roaring ever had.

"Let's rock some tune-age" Eric's Australian accent wasn't far off of Kella's broad, bush twang. A driving bass guitar and drums fill the air, shortly joined by a distinctive, snarling scream.

" _No mercy for the bad if they want it. No mercy for the bad if they plead. No mercy from the bad if they need it. Oooh no mercy from me. Tell no truth and tell no lies. Cross your heart and hope to die. Never give what you can't take back. Scratch like a cat. Oooh inject your venom, it'll be your last attack_ "

And that was when they crashed through the gate into Erudite.

oOoOo

 ** _The song is "Inject the Venom" by AC/DC_**


	29. Twenty Eight

**_No excuses, I'm an arse._** ** _I own nothing._** ** _Unbetta'd._** ** _I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry._**

Twenty Eight

The hair on the back of Eric's neck had been standing on end since he woke up this morning, but it wasn't until Stuart came running up to him with panic written all over his face that his stomach started twisting into knots.

"Eric! Do you know where Rose is?" Eric would usually publicly reprimand him for speaking to him so casually in public, but reason told him that he had bigger problems to deal with today. Rose and Stuart where hardly ever more than a few feet away from each other, especially since Rose had been stabbed.

"I haven't seen her since breakfast" that in itself was unusual as well. Rose was someone that was just always there, annoying Eric like a mosquito, or a sibling. It was nearly Dinnertime now, she should've been hanging around close by, nipping at Kella's heels. "Where's Kella?"

"I don't know where she is either. I asked her just before lunch if she'd seen Rose. She said she hadn't, but she'd find her for me. I haven't seen her since." Stuart's usually bombproof persona had given way to a nervous energy that was starting to infect Eric as well. He shoved the emotion down and stepped straight into fearless leader mode.

"We'll find them." He claps Stuart on the shoulder as he takes long strides toward the control room. He bursts in, expecting to see Four hunched over a keyboard. Instead, an almost dozing Zeke jumps from his seat looking guilty as sin.

"Eric! Sir! How can I help you?" Zeke's presence confuses him as much as his presence confuses Zeke.

"Where's Four?" Eric grunts his query at the shocked security officer.

"I dunno man. He asked me to cover his shift. Said he had a meeting to go to." Eric is distracted from Zeke's explanation by a panicked figure on the security feed.

"Looks like his meeting didn't go well" Zeke turns to the feed, and they both watch Four tear into the compound like a bullet from a gun.

oOoOo

Kella stared at the screen in front of her, trying to shake the feeling of doom that had settled in the pit of her stomach. It had taken her a long time, but she'd finally cracked the security encoding the last of the files she'd stolen from Erudite. All the conversations she'd recorded from Jeannine's office started making a sick, twisted sort of sense in her mind. She had been through a lot more than most in her very long life, but this level of evil surprised even her. The tests they where doing on the divergent brought a whole new meaning to the word inhumane.

But one of the things Kella had the most trouble dealing with was the DNA results. She'd known something was up with this weird city out in the middle of nowhere, what she hadn't realised was the level of genetic editing that had gone on in the past. The people of the factions where barely more human than she was, but without the knarley super powers. And the Divergent... the Divergent should be called the Convergent! They where the culmination of all mother nature's efforts to right the wrongs of her waywood children. Even with how badly the human genome had been altered, there was enough of the fully functioning alleles left for the broken DNA to repair itself over the generations. And Jeannine was doing her best to prevent this healing process. Kidnapping and torturing the Divergent, trying to find a cure for the cure, destroying this civilisation's best hope for a stable future. It was almost poetic, in a sick, twisted kind of way, because the fucked up Erudite leader actually thought she was doing the right thing.

Kella took a steadying breath before she transferred copies of the decoded files onto several flash drives and left her hidey hole office. Her first port of call was Eric, and it was nearing lunch time, so she headed toward the mess hall. She heard Stuart's uneven breathing and frantic step before she saw his slightly disheveled figure rushing toward her in the hall.

"Have you seen Rose?"...

oOoOo

Jeannine's assistant was waiting for them in the lobby of Erudites main building. That was a mistake on his part, as they barely missed him when Eric drove Kella's truck right through the huge glass front doors. Eric was out of the vehicle before it stopped moving, launching himself at the PA so fast that the guards where still on the ground. He gripped the scrawny man by the throat and held him high above his head.

"Where is she?" His quiet voice was full of menace and the assistant buckled without any further coaxing.

"In the Divergent Labs, down two floors and take your first right." The assistant's voice was barely audible with the pressure Eric was putting on his windpipe, but he managed to hear. He dropped the assistant on his arse and took off for the stairs with the rest of his squad not far behind him. It was only two levels, and the elevator just wasn't fast enough. Eric knew what happened in the Divergent Labs, he'd spent years there. The longer Kella and Rose where there, the more chance they would be coming home in a body bag.

Stuart and Four where the only one's on his heels when he made it to the right lab, the others having dropped off to deal with the pesky Erudite security along the way. What he saw when he burst through the door nearly dropped him to his knees.

Kella was strapped to a rack in just her cargos and a bra, broken and bleeding. She was stretched out so far that she had dislocated both shoulders, her arms held at a funny angle above her head. She was covered in fresh wounds, all obviously inflicted to cause the most pain possible, and what they could see of her skin underneath all the blood was mottled with fresh bruises. Eric cried out in fury and fear as he took in her appearance, and she looked up at him. Her eyes where wide with anger, the iris' blood red and burning. She was a terrifying sight to behold, even being chained as she was.

"Let them go!" The powerful voice that rang around the room didn't come from Eric, or even Four. It was Stuart, eyes black with rage, jaw clenched tight and considerable muscles bulging. It was then that Eric realised that little Rose was being held at gunpoint by a disheveled looking Jeannine.

"And why would I do that, you bottom feeding muscle head? I've just spent months trying to get that mutant here to run these tests! Why the hell would I let you take her again?"

"It's over Jeannine. We have all the evidence we need to lock you up and throw away the key. All the 'experiments', all the lies and secrets, we have them all. You're done Jeannine, let the girls go." Four's gentle voice grates on Eric's already worn nerves as he desperately looks for a way to free Kella without getting her killed in the process. It's not until Kella looks pointedly at Rose that Eric realises that he can't free her until Rose is safe, and that Jeannine used Rose as both the carrot and the stick to get Kella here in the first place. Kella will probably heal from just about anything they do to her, Rose won't. The realisation makes the path before him very clear, but he doesn't like it one bit.

"Hey Jeannine" Eric waits until the cunning bitch is looking straight at him before he makes his move "Go to hell" He opens fire with Neuro stim darts, peppering her and anyone else that gets in the way. He knows he gets Rose at least four times, and Kella more times than he cares to think about, but Jeannine and her lackeys cop the brunt of the shots from the three Dauntless men by the door. Stuart stops firing and runs into the room, catching a few darts on his way. They don't seem to slow him down any as he reaches Rose and drags her to relative safety behind Four and himself. Once she is safe Eric yells at Four to "Cover me!" as he runs to free Kella from her painful predicament. As usual, she's one step ahead of him, already having broken her chains and fallen to the floor, rolling around against a table to pop her shoulders back in.

Jeannine has also recovered somewhat, and raises her arm toward Kella, pistol in hand and an evil smile on her face. It takes less than a heartbeat for Eric to drop his rifle, grab his sidearm, and shoot that evil bitch with a real bullet. She drops the gun and seems surprised when she looks down at the blood blooming across the shoulder of her blouse.

"You!! You where my protege! I gave you every opportunity to excel, even with your divergence, and this is how you repay me? You shot me!"

Eric rolls his eyes as he extends a hand towards Kella, helping her to her feet. "I was never your fucking protege. It was a choice of play the game or spend the rest of my life being experimented on. I was never in your fucking pocket Jeannine. I fucking played You, get over it"

Kella's dark chuckle stood out in the sudden silence that had enveloped the room. She looks toward Jeannine, smiling in a way that made the hair stand up on the back of Eric's neck.

"You wanted me to talk? Well, I'm talking now, cunt, and you're gonna fucking listen." Kella's voice rings through the room, silencing all but Jeannine.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Jeannine is still trying for control, but Kella shuts any thought of that down.

"I am Kella Esarossa, the White Wolf. I am the Vessel of the Final Darkness, and the Oncoming Storm. I am the Lonely God, the Living Death, and the Destroyer of Worlds. The Sword of the Morning and an anointed Knight of the Order of the Thistle. I am Judge, Jury and Executioner. If you're looking for a higher authority on this planet, you won't find one. The buck stops with me."

The complete terror that flashed onto Jeannine's face was almost as satisfying as sex to Eric, the fact that Kella had been the cause was the icing on the cake. Eric watched in fascination as Kella strode toward Jeannine, grabbed her by the throat, and screamed in her face. The noise that came out of Kella's throat was more like a song than a scream, but it was like no song Eric had heard before. He felt his nose start to bleed as he watched the life leave Jeannine's eyes. Kella dropped her lifeless body and turned toward Eric, her eyes moving from red, through lilac, and back to ice blue. She smiled at him when he reached for her, holding her tightly in his arms. Then she slowly closed her eyes and went limp in his arms, leaving Eric screaming "Medic!! Medic!!" As she faded from this world.


	30. Twenty Nine

**_I struggled with this one until I changed POV, that's what's taken me so long. I'd had the last chapter written for months, but didn't want to publish it until I had this one written._**

 ** _I own nothing_**

 ** _Unbetta'd_**

Twenty Nine

The roadblock, the main gate, the front doors, Erudite was laid bare before Eric's tenacity and Kella's mad mechanic skills. It was a rough ride in the back, but there where plenty of straps to hang onto, and a five point harness for each seat, so Josh and the other Dauntless where all in fine fighting shape when Four opened the doors. Josh jumped out to see a crap load of Erudite guards, and Eric holding a scrawny nose up in the air by his throat. Eric dropped the small man and took off for the stairs, so Josh ignored the inept guards and chased after him. Eric seemed to know where he was going, so Josh tried his best to stay hot on his heels while they raced down the stairs into the bowels of Erudite. It was hard though, when he had to keep stopping to raise his rifle to his shoulder. Eric, Stuart and Four seemed to have lost all sense of self preservation, and Josh had to stop and cover them on several occasions.

By the time they burst out of the stairwell, the Erudite guards where coming thick and fast. It was all Josh could do to keep from losing ground, he was going to have to wait for some of the others to catch up before he could continue his charge after the three large Dauntless he'd been following.

When they finally make it through the last of the Erudite guards in the hall, Josh is first on the scene. Rose is being dragged toward them by a determined looking Stuart, and gunfire is echoing out of the lab that Eric and Four are standing in the doorway of.

Eric calls for cover as he leaps into the room, so Josh takes his place in the doorway next to Four, laying down cover fire while trying to make sense of the scene in front of him.

Kella is rolling around on the floor with broken chains attached to her hands and feet, what she's doing that for, Josh has no idea. Jeannine was pointing a pistol at her, and Eric has already drawn his handgun and pulled the trigger. Jeannine's gun falls to the floor, a red flower spreading across her crisp, white shirt.

"You!! You where my protege! I gave you every opportunity to excel, even with your divergence, and this is how you repay me? You shot me!" Jeannine's wail annoys Josh, that arrogant slag had kidnapped Kella, again. Josh was fighting the urge to shoot her between the eyes with a dart.

"I was never your fucking protege." Eric snarles as he helps Kella up. "It was a choice of play the game or spend the rest of my life being experimented on. I was never in your fucking pocket Jeannine. I fucking played You, get over it" Wow, Eric's divergent! Did not see that coming.

A sinister giggle breaks the silence after Eric's revelation, and Josh is surprised to realise that it was coming from Kella. The feral grin on her face and her red eyes shock Josh to the core.

"You wanted me to talk? Well, I'm talking now, cunt, and you're gonna fucking listen."

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Jeannine buts in, Kella silencing her with a look.

"I am Kella Esarossa, the White Wolf. I am the Vessel of the Final Darkness, and the Oncoming Storm. I am the Lonely God, the Living Death, and the Destroyer of Worlds. The Sword of the Morning and an anointed Knight of the Order of the Thistle. I am Judge, Jury and Executioner. If you're looking for a higher authority on this planet, you won't find one. The buck stops with me."

Josh fought the urge to close his eyes as Kella took five large steps in Jeannine's direction, he knew this wasn't going to be pretty. Closing his eyes wouldn't have helped anyway, he was going to remember the noise Kella made until the day he died.

Jeannine dropped like a stone at her feet as she turned to Eric, and the tension began to leave Josh's shoulders. He closed his eyes for a moment to take a breath, and when he opened them, Eric was on the ground, cradling Kella's lifeless body, while he screamed for a medic. Josh wasn't a medic, but his father was, and he'd made sure that all five of his kids had plenty of first aid training.

He pushed a shaking Four out of his way and knelt beside Kella, dragging her from Eric's arms. He thought for a moment that Eric might put up a fight, but he seemed to realise that Josh was trying to help her. She wasn't breathing when Josh checked, but her airways where clear. He felt for pulse, and, finding none, started compressions. Eric seemed to come alive beside him, taking over resuscitation at the correct time, allowing for a more effective cardiopulmonary resuscitation ratio.

It only took three rounds before Kella's heart started beating of it's own violation, and her breathing returned with her heartbeat. Eric breathed a sigh of relief, but Josh didn't stop there. He shifted Kella into the recovery position and started on her many wounds.

He was looking around for something to use as a compression bandage when Eric ripped off his shirt, tearing it into strips to tie around the worst of the bleeding. She woke then, gasping and choking, so Josh rubbed her back while Eric worked to stem the flow from the worst of her wounds.

"Welcome back Kell, how you doin?" Josh tried to keep his tone light, but he was also trying to decide which of her wounds needed stitching up now, and which ones could wait until they at least had her in a truck on the way home.

"Sorry dude, didn't realise they'd taken so much out of me. I'll be alright in a minute or two, just let me catch my breath." Kella's voice is stronger than Josh expected it to be, she was one tough lady.

Eric finished knotting the last makeshift bandage and scooted toward where Josh was checking out Kella's surprisingly strong pulse. Josh moved out of the way so Eric could be at her head, where he took her face in his huge hands and bought his forehead to hers. Josh knew it was Dauntless' worst kept secret, the relationship between the scary young leader and the mysterious outsider. Anyone within a mile of them could see the way they looked at each other. It was never more apparent than at the moment though; Eric's whole visage screamed devotion, and Kella's entire body relaxed at his touch. He wasn't sure what assurances they where whispering to each other, but the relief poured off of them like rain.

Josh heard a commotion and took the opportunity to look away from the couple. Max had finally made it to the lab and was swearing like a sailor.

"What the fuck happened here? What the fuck did they fucking do? What the fuck did you lot fucking do? Where the fuck is that snakey Nose bitch?"

Josh and Four both point to the lifeless body on the ground not far from where Kella was recovering.

"Fucking hell! Do you lot have any fucking idea how much paperwork this shit is gonna be?"

Kella pushes Eric aside and sits up, her fiery gaze leveling at Max.

"Look at me, Max! Look at fucking Rose! Do you think I give a shit how much paperwork you have to fill out? That fucking insane weasel took my friend and used her to get to me! Does that sound like a good plan to You? To take someone I love and use them as bait? She's fucking lucky she's dead! I could've done a lot fucking worse!" The menace in Kella's tone just about made Josh's bowels turn to water. He felt a dripping from his nose. He put his hand up to wipe it away, and his fingers came back bloody. He looked up at Max's ashen face, he'd never actually seen the leader scared before today.

Eric, bleeding nose and all, put himself between Kella and Max. He gently helped her to her feet whilst also breaking the line of sight between her and a shaken Max.

"Let's get you back home so we can clean you up." Eric being diplomatic, that was something you didn't see everyday.

"In a minute, there's something I've gotta do first." Kella brushes past Eric to a computer terminal in the middle of the room. "There's been a signal I haven't been able to decode," she continues, "It's coming from outside the city, I'll use Erudite's gear while I'm here."

She's quiet for a moment, the only noise in the room is the quiet tapping of her fingers on the keyboard. Suddenly, she stops, frowning.

"What is It?" Eric's quiet question echoes loudly in the hush.

"It's an audio file." A few more clicks and a soft music fills the air, distorted and reverberating, but clear enough to understand. A man with a similar accent to Kella starts singing

'There's a message from the outback

A murmur on the breeze

From restless dreams

Awakened me this morning

The message came from Uluru

Of spirit's ill at ease

In ancient voices sounding out a warning

"You've taken all you wanted!"

I heard the anguished cry

"The time has come to say "enough" before the well runs dry"

This is Australia calling

This is Australia calling'

Kella's face was unreadable as the song stopped dead. She stares at the speaker as a lone tear escapes and rolls down her cheek. Suddenly, her hands are a flurry of motion as she types rapidly. She grabs a headset, throwing it on her head and adjusting the speaker, before she starts to sing

"Here comes the future

Time to fire up

Gotta find a way

To get this country rolling

Doom and gloom is easy

We've gotta shake it off

Gotta get up early in the morning

The honeymoon is over

Can you hear the calls

We've gotta come out fighting

Our backs against the wall

This is Australia calling

This is Australia calling

This is Australia calling

This is Australia calling

Is there anybody out there

Is there anybody out there

This is Australia calling

This is Australia calling

This is Australia calling

This is Australia calling"

She presses a couple of keys and takes the headset off, stepping away from the terminal.

" Eric," her voice is quiet, barely above a whisper "Take me home please."

 ** _The song is "This is Australia Calling" by John Williamson_**


	31. Thirty

Eric insisted on carrying Kella in from the truck, bellowing "Get Smiley to my apartment, now!" As he strode through the garage.

"What in the Sam Hill did you do to her?" A very large, very angry Vincent is standing in front of him with his arms crossed.

"Saved her ass." Is Four's short and sharp reply as he steps between Eric and the irate mechanic, shifting him out of the way enough for Eric to step around him and continue his long strides toward the safest place he could think of.

It was all he could think about at the moment. Jeannine's death, the takeover of Erudite, the cryptic message Kella had decoded; all where taking a backseat to the thought of getting Kella home safe. It seemed to take forever to get to his front door, Kella punching in the code from her perch in his arms when they got there. He strode through the door and deposited a weakened Kella on her side of the bed. When he was sure she was safe, he fell to his knees beside the bed and wept.

" Are you alright?" That was the last thing he thought he would hear from the little woman on his bed. She was holding the top half of him where he had sprawled out over her when he dropped to his knees, patting his hair and making soothing noises in her chest.

"Me?" Eric was confused. "I'm not the one that was dead!"

"It's ok, love, this is not the first time I've been brought back from the dead. God's... the first time I was only 19." She takes a deep breath and gives him a half smile. "I'm glad I didn't stay dead the first time, they would've been some bloody awful last words." Eric thinks she's trying to distract him... it's working.

"What'd you say?"

"Shit, fuck, shit! Cold tires, cold tires, cold tires!" Eric chuckles despite himself.

"So you've always had a lead foot then?" He questions

"Always." Her grin is cheeky now, and while he feels slightly better, he's still shaken down to his core.

"You scared me. I didn't think you where coming back there for a moment."

"I'm not that easy to get rid of. Perks of being a Demigod of sorts."

"Thank Christ for genetic engineering." Eric's attempt at lightheartedness wipes the grin from Kella's face.

"You may come to regret saying that one day." Kella's tone is off, but Eric is too wrung out to ask why. She looks so pensive, he tries to distract her from whatever maudlin thoughts where going through her mind.

"By the way, that was a fucking good speach you gave Jeannine before you exploded her brain." His compliment has the desired effect, Kella threw her head back and laughed.

"I stole most of it from Doctor Who." She giggles

"Doctor What?" Eric is puzzled

"Not what, who. It was an awesome TV show, we'll have to have a few good binge sessions at some point."

Smiley choses that moment to burst into his apartment, Josh and Four following in his wake.

"What in the actual fuck have you done to yourself this time?" Smiley moves into the room quickly, shifting Eric with just a pointed look, and taking his place by her side. Josh had Smiley's bag and was setting out instruments on the bedside table, while Four just wandered over to the rocking chair and sat down.

"I walked into a trap, got tortured for a bit while I waited for the rest of Dauntless to catch up, then I expended quite a bit of energy killing Jeannine and crashed a bit. I'm ok, I just need a bit of patching up." Kella's quick version of events really plays down how intense the day had been. Josh finishes pulling crap out of Smiley's bag and elaborates.

"She was fuckin awesome, Dad. She grabbed Jeannine by the throat and screamed in her face, and Jeannine just died. Dropped dead. Scared the fuck outa me, but it was so fuckin cool." Josh is full of nervous energy, Eric doubts he's going to sleep for a week.

"She killed Jeannine?" Smiley looks to Eric, and he nods in confirmation. "Well done kiddo! City's better off with one less sociopath running the show." Smiley gives Kella's shoulder a squeeze and sets to work stitching the worst of her wounds. "Quick question though, what exactly are You? It might be easier to patch you up if I know what the hell I'm dealing with here? I mean, who kills someone by screaming them to death?" Smiley's inquiry doesn't slow down his hands, but his brow is furrowed as he works methodically through Kella's injuries.

"I'm a siren." Is Kella's resigned reply. "Not the type with a tail, the type with a killer voice and a penchant for bloodshed." Her expression is clouded, and Eric wonders what's going on in that stormy brain of hers. "I was made in a lab, and I'm a hell of a lot older than I look."

Smiley nods and takes her explanation in stride, surprising Eric. It really shouldn't surprise him though, Smiley really was unflappable. He continues working on Kella in silence, with Josh passing him the occasional scanner or dressing.

"Alright missy, you've done some damage to the soft tissues around your shoulders, but I expect that will be pretty much healed by morning. You've lost quite a bit of blood, but I've closed all your wounds and dressed them, so they'll heal up just fine as long as you keep them clean. You're really not in too bad a shape for a dead chick." Eric glared at Smiley, but his intimidation tactic was lost on the seasoned medic. "I'd feel better if you'd come down to medical, but I'm guessing you're staying here...?" Kella's nod shouldn't relieve Eric, but it does. "Ok then, I guess we're done here. Rest up for a couple of days, then you'll be right as rain for your fear landscape. Lookin forward to having you bein a part of the team, sweetie. Look after yourself." Smiley nodded at Kella's quiet thanks before he gave Eric a pointed look and grabbed his kit off of Josh. Eric followed him out the bedroom door and to the front door.

"You're gonna keep this to yourself, aren't you?" Eric's worry must have been evident on his face, because Smiley put his hand on his shoulder and squeezed as he answered.

"The whole city owes that girl a great debt, I'd rather have my eyes plucked out than betray her." The tension that had been gathering in Eric's shoulders left his body at Smiley's Frank confession. "But, you've got your work cut out for you trying to keep that one safe. She might be superhuman, but she's got a superhuman chip on her shoulder too. I don't know what the fuck happened to her before she walked in our gates, and it's probably safer that I don't know. But she's got a huge fucking savior complex and a severe disregard for the value of her own life. The girl needs counseling, man, and soon." Eric nodded his agreement as the tired medic slapped his shoulder and made his way out the door, his youngest son following close behind.


	32. Thirty One

"How's Rose?" The deathly pale woman on the bed should be more concerned by the fact that she'd been dead a couple of hours ago, but she wouldn't be Kella if she didn't confuse the hell out of Four on a daily basis.

"Was conscious and being carried into medical when I went to get Smiley. She looks like she'll recover fine."

"Good stuff" her quiet, understated reply only bellied the relief that Four saw in her eyes. All was quiet until Eric walked back into the room.

"Out with it Esarossa. What the fuck was that song shit all about back there." Eric's tone brooked no argument, and Kella didn't give him one.

"I'm not sure yet. We might find out soon, or we might never find out. That signal's been broadcast out on repeat for a couple of hundred years or so, I don't know if anyone's still around who would even know what it is. All I know is that it's bouncing off of old satellites that probably shouldn't even be working anymore, and that it's likely targeted at me." Kella's voice lacks her usual strength and certainty, and Four wonders what it is that she's not saying.

"Why do you think that it's targeted at You?" Eric's voice has softened, probably because Kella seemed to put up no fight in answering his last question.

"John Williamson released that song in 1995, my grandmother used to play it a lot. She took me to one of his concerts when I was about 2 years old and I met him. I don't remember it, but there's a picture somewhere of him holding me on his hip. I'd have to be the only person alive that remembers his music." That made sense to Four, but he still wasn't sure he was getting the whole picture.

"You think maybe they didn't forget about you after All?" Eric had moved back to his place beside the bed and was holding Kella's hand gently.

Thirty One

"How's Rose?" The deathly pale woman on the bed should be more concerned by the fact that she'd been dead a couple of hours ago, but she wouldn't be Kella if she didn't confuse the hell out of Four on a daily basis.

"Was conscious and being carried into medical when I went to get Smiley. She looks like she'll recover fine."

"Good stuff" her quiet, understated reply only bellied the relief that Four saw in her eyes. All was quiet until Eric walked back into the room.

"Out with it Esarossa. What the fuck was that song shit all about back there." Eric's tone brooked no argument, and Kella didn't give him one.

"I'm not sure yet. We might find out soon, or we might never find out. That signal's been broadcast out on repeat for a couple of hundred years or so, I don't know if anyone's still around who would even know what it is. All I know is that it's bouncing off of old satellites that probably shouldn't even be working anymore, and that it's likely targeted at me." Kella's voice lacks her usual strength and certainty, and Four wonders what it is that she's not saying.

"Why do you think that it's targeted at You?" Eric's voice has softened, probably because Kella seemed to put up no fight in answering his last question.

"John Williamson released that song in 1995, my grandmother used to play it a lot. She took me to one of his concerts when I was about 2 years old and I met him. I don't remember it, but there's a picture somewhere of him holding me on his hip. I'd have to be the only person alive that remembers his music." That made sense to Four, but he still wasn't sure he was getting the whole picture.

"You think maybe they didn't forget about you after All?" Eric had moved back to his place beside the bed and was holding Kella's hand gently.

"I don't know." Kella's sigh is full of longing and grief. "Before I went on my last mission, I had a huge tantrum. I told my handler, and a roomful of government officials, that this would be the last fucking time they used me to pull themselves out of the shit. Told them they'd taken everything from me, even my hero's death. I told them I had nothing left to give, that the well was dry. The last thing I said to the only people in the world who knew who and what I was, was " Fuck ya, fuck the lot o' ya's!""

oOoOo

Four cringed. On the screen in front of him, he watched Kella's father die again. Kella calmed her heart rate quickly, letting go of her father's hand well before the EMT's got there, much to Four's relief. He was worried for awhile that she'd never get the hang of the Sims, that her times would never improve. She was doing much better already in the fear landscape than she had in sim training, but they where only on her first fear yet.

The image on the monitor merged from the cabin of the broken Kenworth into a field pockmarked with rabbit holes, and Four wondered who Kella would be forced to put down this time. The soldier's face morphed through Stuart, Rose, himself, Smiley and Josh before settling on Eric's hard glare. Four watched the screen as she kissed Eric's brow and drove the knife between the soldier's ribs, then he looked over to her prone body on the simulation chair. A single tear rolled from beneath her thick lashes and down her face. He risked a glance at Eric himself, the leader's face was carved from granite as he followed the tracks of her tears with his glare.

A flash of colour on the screen caught Four's attention, it was a bright flare, lighting up a snow covered landscape. Kella was running for her life again, although this time Four couldn't tell what from. She was alone, running down a length of blacktop lined with snowdrifts. She reloaded the flare gun as she ran, letting go another bright flash of light as she ran faster than humanly possible through the night. She started screaming, "Get me out of here!" over and over into a microphone on her shoulder as she reloaded again. Four wondered what the hell could make the staunchest person he knew panic so badly. It wasn't long before he found out. There was a long flash of light so bright that the whole screen went white and fuzzy, followed by the world catching on fire around her. Then a blast knocked Kella into the air and the screen turned black.

They where back in familiar territory now. Kella was in a hospital gown, wires running from her body to the machines that surrounded her. Just as she had the last time Four had seen this fear, she yanked out the needles and sensors, and made her way to a console. Even though Four was expecting her scream, it still turned his insides to jelly. Kella took three deep breaths after her scream and her heartbeat slowed enough for the program to move on.

Four was hoping against all hope that they where done now. Kella was looking pale and clammy in the simulation chair, and Four worried that she'd end up in cardiac arrest if she had anymore fears where she had to run. He cursed when another image popped up on the screen.

She was in an Erudite lab, Jeannine pointing a gun at a figure tied to a chair. As she drew closer, it became clear that it was Eric that Jeannine was threatening. Kella moved so quickly that she was a blur, knocking the gun from the Erudite leader's hand and caving in her chest with a well placed kick. She turned to Eric, only to see that he was long dead. She screamed as she comprehended his decomposing form, skin purple and mottled, features sunken and distorted. She closed her eyes and Four could visibly see her concentrating on her heartbeat again. It took her a little longer, but she wrangled it under control, and so the scene on the screen changed.

She was in a dark room with an old radio, a 77 set by the looks of it. Through the speaker at her ear, John Williamson played. Kella's sobs shook her small frame as she tried desperately to sing back through the microphone, but she just couldn't get enough air to make a sound. She shut her eyes again, getting her breathing under control, and sang the next verse back through the Vietnam War era relic.

She was running again, but this time through the halls of Dauntless. She seemed to be looking for something, or someone. Whatever she was searching for, she couldn't find it, Dauntless was empty, and looked like it had been for a long time. Dust and spider webs lay thick on the walls, undisturbed dirt and debris lined the walkways. She ran for about five minutes before she threw herself into a broom cupboard and shut the door. Eyes shut, breathing deeply, she once again brought her unruly heart rate down to normal.

She was sitting in the mess hall now, eating a burger. She looked up and straight into Eric's eyes, but something was definately wrong with this picture. He was old, there was no other way to put it. From the lines on his face to the tremor in his hands, he was ancient. To his left sat Stuart, looking just as ravaged by time, and to his right sat Rose, withered away to a shadow of her former self. Kella looked down at her own hands, they where just as unlined and perfect as they where today. She caught her reflection in a shiny metal cup on the table, her face was unmarred and youthful. She dropped her head into her hands and cried. She cried until she was gasping for air, and then she passed out.

Four looked toward Kella in time to see her jerk upright in the chair, ripping wires off of herself with singleminded determination. He was bumped forward in his seat as a body pushed past him and into the room where Kella stood looking pained and embarresed. Eric strode to her and grabbed her face in both hands while she clung to his shirt. Four couldn't hear what Eric was whispering to her, but he watched as the colour returned to her cheeks and strength returned to her body. He glanced over at Max, wondering what he made of the situation. Dauntless' representative leader was as pale as Kella had been a moment ago.

"I probably shouldn't have bothered trying to keep them apart until after initiation, I could see they where inevitable from the start." Four nodded at him, silently agreeing. "Do you know how old she is?"

Max's question startled Four, causing him to stutter "Um, ah, um, not rrreally, older than she looks?" He could feel the cold beads of sweat on his forehead as he tried to hold his shit together.

"Not that it really matters anyway," Max continued, "she'll tell us when she's ready. She's going straight into leadership anyway, I'm not bothering with training that's below her paygrade anymore. I want her teaching ASAP." Four let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been hanging onto as Max wandered into the next room to congratulate Dauntless' newest member.


	33. Thirty Two

Thirty Two

The feast was long and tedious for Eric, sitting on the pereferary, watching from afar. Kella, sandwiched between Rose and Stuart, still looked slightly pale from where he sat at the leader's table, and he longed to switch places with little Rose. Let her sit up here, to the right of Max, and listen to the drudgery that was assaulting his ears.

"Your girl's looking better than she did after her fear landscape." Max's whispered observation caught Eric's attention. "Still not 100%, but better."

"She's tough, as you've seen. It'd take more than her worst fears, bad as they are, to keep her down." Eric keeps his voice down at the same level as Max, leaning toward him slightly to facilitate their quiet conversation.

"She's going to be a hell of a leader, that girl. There's going to be no stopping her now, she's like a runaway train." Eric smirked at Max's inference.

"You imply there was any chance of stopping her in the first place, we never stood a chance." Max snorted at Eric's comment

"You never stood a chance. I've been going over bodycam footage of when you guys bought her in. You where smitten from the moment you saw her, even Four picked up on it. You took one look at her and you where doomed to follow that woman around like a lost puppy dog for the rest of your natural life."

"True" He said, "Maybe even longer than my natural life" he thought to himself.

oOoOo

Kella glanced at the leader's table, watching Eric and Max conversing quietly. The volume of their conversation was no barrier for her comprehension as she read their lips, and blushed at the realisation that they where talking about her. She should look away, but she won't. She wondered at the troubled look on Eric's face at the conclusion of the conversation, but put it out of her mind as Max stood to address the congregation.

"Alright, quiet down Dauntless, and I'll get to the point quick. We all know what we're waiting for, so I won't keep you in suspense any longer" he gestured to the large screen to the side of the leader's table as it lit up and displayed the final rankings for initiation. She wasn't surprised to find her name first, in a contest between a trained soldier and a bunch of kids, it was a hollow victory. She quickly scanned down the list, pausing a moment at Stuart's name at number 3, and stopping when she found Rose's name at number 9. She turned to her friends and grinned, both in the top ten, that was a pretty damn good accomplishment for two Amity born transfers. They both embraced her and she returned the hug briefly before disentangling herself and glancing toward the leader's table. The object of her attention had already stood and was walking toward the exit, no doubt heading for home. She tried to follow, but found her feet leaving the ground as Josh picked her up and bounced with her in his tight grip. "One and two, Kella! We're one and two!!" He chanted excitedly as Kella tried to extract herself from the bouncing Dauntless without hurting him. After Josh finally let her go, there was many rounds of hugging to be done with excited teenagers before Kella could quietly slip away and head toward the apartment.

oOoOo

He was waiting for her as soon as she walked in the front door, she barely got it shut before he was on her. Her lips crashed to his just as greedily as his did to hers, bruising in force, as they tried their best to devour each other. She climbed the man like a tree, wrapping her legs around his hips tightly as he pushed her against the closed door, grinding against her in the most delicious way. He broke the kiss first, pulling back only just enough to speak.

"Marry me." Kella freezes in place, not even taking breath as she draws back and looks up into his questioning eyes.

"I love you, Kella Esarossa. Marry me." She feels hot tears start slipping from her eyes as she starts breathing again.

"I'm not even human, Eric. Is that even legal?"

"I don't care. I don't care that you're not human, I don't care if it's legal. Just marry me." His face is serene as he looks down at her, the complete opposite of how she feels inside.

"You don't want to marry me, Eric."

"Yes I fuckin do."

"No, you don't" Kella felt him increase the pressure against her, she wasn't going to be able to shift him off of her without hurting him. "You don't want to marry an old woman, Eric. Gods, I don't even know if we'd be able to have kids or anything!" She felt the pitch of her voice rise before Eric silenced her with his lips. His mouth was gentle on hers, and she couldn't help but relax slightly with the comfort his kiss brought. When he spoke next, his words where whispered against her lips.

"I want to marry you, Kell. I don't care if you're not human. I don't care if we can't have kids. I don't care about anything except how we feel about each other." His words broke her heart, and Kella started crying in ernest.

"What about how I feel, Eric? What happens to me when you die of old age and I'm still here, a single immortal amongst herds of mortals? How am I going to marry you, and then hold you as you die of old age, knowing that I'll probably live for centuries more? How the fuck does my soul survive that shit?" Eric smiled down at her, sadness glistening in his eyes.

"And what was your plan to cope with this if I didn't ask you to marry me?" Fresh tears rolled down Kella's face like rain, "I don't know" Kella wailed, "I was just trying not to think about it too much!" Eric chuckled at her.

"We'll sort all that shit out later, love. Not marrying me isn't going to make any of that crap any easier to deal with, is it?"

"No" Kella's soft sigh sounded pathetic and childlike to her own ears.

"So marry me." Eric's cocky grin is a balm on Kella's ragged nerves, and she concedes with a sigh.

"Yes"

Eric dives for her face again, taking her mouth fiercely as he crushes his body against her. Kella rejoices in feeling his weight against her, the solid mass of this man that she loves and the feeling of safety it brings.

oOoOo

Eric fought down the fear in his stomach as he woke alone in his bed at 2am. He reasoned with himself that Kella was now a full member of Dauntless, Jeannine was dead, and Kella was entirely capable of looking after herself. All the logic in the world couldn't stop him from dressing quickly and heading out of his apartment in search of his errant fiancee though.

It took him about an hour to find her. She wasn't in the workshop and her truck was in it's bay, the training rooms where empty, and it was only through his enquiries in the control room that he found her at the fear landscape control panel. She sat with her back to the door, screens lit up with unfamiliar programs, and an old guitar in her hands.

"Whatcha doin?" Eric kept his voice barely above a whisper, but Kella had no troubles hearing him.

"Tuning." Is her short reply. Eric realised that for someone with such a big personality, she wasn't very verbose most of the time, preferring to leave her words for only the most important occasions.

He dragged a chair over and sat beside her, watching her skilled hands move over the old instrument with unerring precision. It wasn't long before her long fingers where plucking perfect scales, and she looked satisfied with her work. She shifted the microphone for the loudspeakers closer toward her, pressed some keys to shift to another unfamiliar program, and placed a finger to her lips, eyeing Eric as she did so. Her fingers moved suredly over the strings and a simple melody flowed from the guitar. An unfamiliar song poured out of her mouth, and Eric caught his breath.

"Hey true blue... don't say you've gone... say you've knocked off for a smoko... and you'll be back later on.

Hey true blue... hey true blue...?

Give it to me straight... face to face... are you really disappearing... just another dying race?

Hey true blue...?

True blue... is it me and you... is it mum and dad... is it a cockatoo?

Is it standin by your mate... when he's in a fight... or just vegemite?

True blue, I'm asking you...

Hey true blue... can you bear the load... will you tie it up with wire, just to keep the show on the road?

Hey true blue...?

Hey true blue... now be fair dinkum... is your heart still there? If they sell us out like sponge cake... do you really care?

Hey true blue...?

True blue... is it me and you... is it mum and dad... is it a cockatoo?

Is it standin by your mate... when she's in a fight... or just vegemite?

True blue, I'm asking you...

True blue... is it me and you... is it mum and dad... is it a cockatoo?

Is it standin by your mate... when he's in a fight... or will she be right?

True blue... true blue...?"

Eric watched as she stopped recording and, with a few clicks of the mouse, sent the audio file out into the universe. He was about to ask who she was sending it to when Max walked into the room.

"There's my favourite new Dauntless" he smiled as he pulled up a chair on the other side of Kella.

"G'day Max, how you doin?" Kella smiles brightly as Max fumbles for words.

"She speaks... at last!" Max grins back at her "And what an accent! That's gonna take some getting used to. Especially coming from a leader." Kella looks resigned at the news.

"I guessed you where gonna throw me in the shit Max, thanks for that." She sighs. "I suppose someone's gotta sort this shit storm out, it may as well be me."

"What have you got in mind Esarossa?" Eric could see the wheels turning in her brain as he watched her face carefully, taking note of the mischief he saw shining in her eyes.

"Reforms, love. Lots of reforms. To start with, you guys don't have one damn karaoke bar in this whole bloody city. It's a fucking travesty! I've got an old karaoke machine I've fixed up in my truck, that needs to go into a bar ASAP."

"What the fuck is kari oki?" Eric and Kella both laugh at the blank look on Max's face.

"You'll see mate, it's bloody brilliant is what it is. This city needs some fucking life brought back into it, man. Not just Dauntless either, all the factions. And you guys all gotta learn to get along better while you're at it. The way the factions relate to each other, or, more accurately, don't relate, is all sorts of fucked up. I'll be fixing that shit. And, while I'm on about fucked up, no more hunting divergent. That shit is so counterproductive it would be laughable if it weren't so stupid!" She levelled a look at Max that would make a weaker man turn to water, and Eric felt a mix of pride and fear swelling in his chest.

"It's not going to be as simple as that, Kella. I've never held any personal distaste for the divergent, but that shit is deeply engrained in the vast majority here." Eric breathed a sigh of relief at Max's admission.

"Don't stress, Max. You saw the shit I could get done without talking, imagine how much change I'll be able to effect when I'm actually using my damn mouth. I can be pretty convincing when I can be arsed to try."

"And you gonna try now, are You?" Eric's words came out a little shorter than he'd meant them to.

Kella's eyes pierced through him as she replied "I've got to. If I don't, I'll go mad. How am I gonna keep you safe if I don't change the backward mindset of this fucking city?"

 ** _The song is "True Blue" by John Williamson_**


End file.
